Code: Aincrad
by Silius1
Summary: An unknown fluctuation in the virtualization to the virtual world of Lyoko has instead sent the warrior: Ulrich Stern to the virtual reality world of Aincrad in the game: Sword Art Online. Will he survive, or will he fall prey to the monsters? This story is more or less canceled. The new version will be up soon.
1. Code Aincrad: Character List

Author Notes: Be a little thankful here, because I'm giving quite a bit of spoilers in this chapter, anyway, this is the current character list for Code: Aincrad, it will be updated at a later date when I get it finalized, so consider this a 1.0 script.

* * *

**Ulrich Stern:**

Ulrich is a young teenager raised in Europe his whole life and began working with his friends: Jeremie Belpois, Odd Della Robbia, and Yumi Ishiyama to protect his world from a malevolent AI called XANA. Ulrich is originally rather introverted, being rather quiet but his future friends' influence get him to open up more and trust them.

His appearance is as such in the beginning when he's not wearing his combat gear: Ulrich is of average height, with scruffy-looking dark brown hair and dark eyes. When he arrives in Aincrad, he wears a vest with a shirt over the top and cargo pants, all in shades of green, with trainers, but for most of his time in Aincrad, he wears this outfit that he bought not longer after he arrived on floor 24: A long-sleeved shirt with light purple and red colors with metal pauldrons on his arms with green stripes, and white everywhere else, though he changes his signature outfit rather consistently.

He is not the smartest individual, but his combat aptitudes are nothing to laugh at, he was able to match Kirito and Masaru strength for strength, and he claims that he is holding back his true strength, but whether that's true or not is unknown.

**Ulrich's Stats:**

Strength: 18

Constitution: 19

Dexterity: 18

Intelligence: 18

Charisma: 18

Willpower: 18

Perception: 18

**Ulrich's Skills:**

Ulrich has 8 skill slots: (The first [] is around the time of floor 65, the second is when they're first introduced, this applies to all characters, the third is around the time of floor 75 and beyond) 3 of which are Unique Skills exclusive to him.

Super-sprint – [900/1000] [500/1000] [1000-1000]

Triangulate – [900/1000] [500/1000] [900-1000]

Triplicate – [900/1000] [350/1000] [900-1000]

Katana – [1000/1000] [800/1000] [1000-1000]

Extended Weight Limit – [800/1000] [250/1000] [1000-1000]

Night Vision – [750/1000] [500/1000] [900-1000]

Tracking – [750/1000] [600/1000] [900-1000]

Battle Healing – [1000/1000] [400/1000] [1000-1000]

Weapon of Choice: Katana

Name of Signature Weapon: Getsuga

* * *

**Solaris:**

Solaris is a young female adult born in the United States who moved to Japan at 13. Solaris was trapped in the world: Aincrad a year later.

She has long hair she dyed green and often wears a modified business suit. She is very serious most of time, despite the fact she's rather carefree in terms of personality when she's not busy helping the clearers. She is a very intelligent person and works for the clearers as a strategist, preferring not to be directly on the frontlines, because of her frail combat aptitudes in her official release avatar. Real name: Karen Koizumi

**Solaris' Stats:**

Strength: 12

Constitution: 13

Dexterity: 12

Intelligence: 25

Charisma: 25

Willpower: 20

Perception: 20

**Solaris' Skills:**

Solaris has 8 skill slots and one Unique Ability

Two Handed Assault Spear [400-1000] [150-1000] [500-1000]

Cooking [1000-1000] [350-1000] [1000-1000]

Bartering [900-1000] [420-1000] [1000-1000]

Detection [750-1000] [300-1000] [900-1000]

Extended Weight Limit [500-1000] [150-1000] [750-1000]

Tracking [800-1000] [190-1000] [1000-1000]

Battle Healing [600-1000] [100-1000] [800-1000]

Searching [800-1000] [200-1000] [1000-1000]

Sleuth [1000-1000] [1000-1000] [1000-1000]

Sleuth is a Unique Skill that allows Solaris to scan an enemy or boss to find its strengths and weaknesses, the downside to the skill is that it drains nearly all of her energy making it difficult to move after using it.

Weapon of Choice: Spear

Name of Signature Weapon: Wandering Moon

* * *

**Masaru:**

Masaru is a young teenager at age 14, he has brown hair and has an idealistic personality. He's generally very kind, but he does have a bit of a short temper, but he is able to keep it in check for the most part. He has formed a 1-sided rivalry with Ulrich, solely because Masaru knows this quote very well 'The strong need strong opponents to keep their power in check', he sometimes does not know if the quote applies to him, Ulrich, or both of them. Real name: Katsuo Viperia

**Masaru's Stats:**

Strength: 20

Constitution: 20

Dexterity: 16

Intelligence: 16

Charisma: 20

Willpower: 15

Perception: 20

**Masaru's Skills:**

Masaru has 8 skill slots

Listening [1000-1000] [450-1000] [1000-1000]

Cooking [500-1000] [50-1000] [600-1000]

Howl [800-1000] [200-1000] [1000-1000]

One-handed Straight sword [1000-1000] [400-1000] [1000-1000]

2-handed Straight sword [900-1000] [350-1000] [950-1000]

Heavy Metal equipment [750-1000] [150-1000] [1000-1000]

Heavy Shield equipment [900-1000] [200-1000] [1000-1000]

Berserker [600-1000] [150-1000] [650-1000]

Weapon(s) of choice: Sword + Shield & 2-handed Sword

Names of Signature Weapons: Descending Starfall (Sword + Shield Set) & Iron Soul (2-handed sword)

* * *

**Amaterasu:**

Amaterasu is Masaru's childhood friend, her age is 14, she has reddish-brown hair with a rather laid-back personality with moments of seriousness, primarily when she does her work as a smith. She has three familiars that she tamed during her time in Aincrad: A feathery dragon she named Yuuko, a Demonic Servant she named Kojin, and a Pup named Urufu. Yuuko helps keep Amaterasu focused on her work with her excellent Perception compared to Amaterasu's, with Kojin and Urufu working as security to prevent players from trying to cheat her.

Common Name: Kana Shimuzu, True name: Amaterasu Shimuzu (Kana's grandparents are Chinese and her family still carries the tradition of common name and true name)

**Amaterasu's Stats:**

Strength: 19

Constitution: 16

Dexterity: 20

Intelligence: 25

Charisma: 23

Willpower: 16

Perception: 8

**Amaterasu's Skills:**

Amaterasu has 8 skill slots

One handed rapier [600-1000] [250-1000] [650-1000]

Cooking [1000-1000] [400-1000] [1000-1000]

Fishing [800-1000] [350-1000] [850-1000]

Weaponsmith [900-1000] [400-1000] [1000-1000]

Familiar Communication [600-1000] [300-1000] [800-1000]

Familiar Recovery [600-1000] [300-1000] [800-1000]

Equipment Appraisal [850-1000] [250-1000] [900-1000]

Armorsmith [900-1000] [400-1000] [1000-1000]

Weapon of choice: Rapier

Name of Signature Weapon: Onyx Wing

* * *

**Elena:**

Elena is a clearer with black hair and gold eyes, she appears rather sickly, but she has a great deal of strength and is more a match for any opponent she faces up against. Real name: Sylvia Miyagawa

**Elena's Stats:**

Strength: 25

Constitution: 13

Dexterity: 20

Intelligence: 15

Charisma: 18

Willpower: 18

Perception: 18

**Elena's Skills:**

2 handed straight sword [1000-1000] [500-1000] [1000-1000]

Battle Healing [950-1000] [350-1000] [1000-100]

Emergency Healing [1000-1000] [400-1000] [1000-1000]

Block [750-1000] [200-1000] [800-1000]

Medicine Mixing [800-1000] [100-1000] [850-1000]

Resource Refining [800-1000] [100-1000] [850-1000]

Cooking [800-1000] [0-1000] [900-1000] (Sylvia took up this skill when things began slowing down and her fellow companions began staying over often.)

Musical Instrument [650-1000] [150-1000] [800-1000]

Weapon of Choice: 2-handed sword

Name of Signature Weapon: Heaven's Bureaucrat


	2. Prologue: Descent into Aincrad

_An unknown fluctuation in the virtualization to the virtual world of Lyoko has instead sent the warrior: Ulrich Stern to the virtual reality world of Aincrad in the game: Sword Art Online. Will he survive, or will he fall prey to the monsters?_

Rated Fiction T

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works._

* * *

Things start out rather usual in the world of Code Lyoko. The sentient program: X.A.N.A has hatched another plan to try to defeat the 'Lyoko Warriors,' which is made up of 3 young teenagers called Odd Della Robbia, Yumi Ishiyama, and Ulrich Stern. The group leader: Jeremie Belpois is sending the group to the virtual world known simply as Lyoko to escort an AI program called Aelita to one of Lyoko's 'towers' which will enable her to stop Xana's current plan. Jeremie, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich head to the factory where the virtual world's server exists, and begin the procedure to enter the virtual world: Lyoko.

Jeremie sets himself up at the computer while Ulrich and the others enter the scanners to enter the virtual world. Once they enter the scanners and face the way they entered, the doors close and the start-up begins.

"Scanner: Odd. Scanner: Yumi. Scanner: Ulrich" Jeremy says over an unseen speaker.

An effect similar to scanning an object from top to bottom and repeating is done inside the scanners to initiate the scanning. "Transfer: Odd. Transfer: Yumi. Transfer—" Jeremie coughs a few times for continuing, as a result of just recovering from a small cold. "Ulrich. Virtualization!"

The procedure is finished at this point and they enter the world of Lyoko.

Odd and Yumi arrive in Lyoko about three feet above the ground in an area known simply as the Mountain Region. Ten seconds pass while Lyoko almost instantaneously assembles their avatar body pixel by pixel, and when that's done, they touch down on the ground and look around the environments, trying to find Aelita.

Odd, whose appearance is essentially a large purple cat notices that Ulrich isn't around.

"Hey Jeremie, where's Ulrich? He isn't here" Odd says in a semi-worried tone, since they don't have their front-line fighter, leaving two ranged fighters on their own.

Yumi, whose appearance is similar to that of a geisha, notices this as well.

"That's bizarre...let me have a look" Jeremie says while trying to figure out what happened to Ulrich. "While I try to find out what happened, go find Aelita, she's twenty-five yards to your west. Hurry, XANA's monsters are in pursuit of her!"

"Got it Jeremie, let's hurry, Odd," Yumi says in a worried tone.

"Understood, we can't have her dying on us now" Odd says with a laugh.

Yumi and Odd rush to go find Aelita and protect her from XANA's monsters.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00] January 15th 2023

Location: [Floor 24 – Forest of Doubt]

This forest has not been explored by any players and rumor has it that this forest is the only way to reach the floor's dungeon, so a scouting team will be assembled in two days to thoroughly explore the forest to reach the end. The Forest itself makes those within doubt their very existence and doubt that they are on the right path, which will make it difficult to navigate.

Meanwhile, Ulrich wakes up in the Forest of Doubt, as it is dubbed by the local players and NPCs, and finds himself a little disoriented from the scan.

"Ugh...what happened?" Ulrich looks around and notices he's in a forest, and that Odd and Yumi are nowhere nearby.

"Where am I? And where's Odd and Yumi?" Ulrich says in shock.

Ulrich takes his time in thoroughly inspecting his surroundings. He walks towards a tree and finds that it's real unlike the computer generated forest in Lyoko.

"Am I somehow back on Earth? Odd! Yumi! Where are you?!" Ulrich says, losing his wits a little bit. You'd be scared too, in a world you have no inkling about. He then calms himself down and tries contacting Jeremie.

"Jeremie, where am I? And where are the others?" However, Ulrich is unable to get a reply from Jeremie and can only hear the sounds of the forest.

"Wonderful..." Ulrich begins, a little worriedly. "I guess I'm on my own... I should try finding some sort of civilization, I need information." Ulrich walks around and finds a lake after about a half hour of aimless wandering, which tempts him to take a small drink, since he hasn't had drank any water in hours.

"I hope I have a canteen or something on me, I need some water" Ulrich says quietly.

He approaches the lake and when he sees his reflection, he finds that it is his real life appearance and not his Lyoko avatar. This shocking discovery surprises Ulrich and he falls back slightly.

"This clearly is not Lyoko, because this is my real life body" Ulrich says, hardly able to believe what's happening.

"Correct, this is the world of Aincrad" A female voice says, surprising Ulrich. He turns around and finds a little girl.

"Were you the one who was talking to me?" Ulrich asks this little girl.

"Yes, I am MHCP001, a mental health counseling AI. Cardinal has noticed you entering Aincrad through unorthodox methods, and I was sent to determine if you are a danger to this world's inhabitants." The girl says calmly, which is quite surprising.

"Okay, um, MHCP..." He shakes his head. "Look, no offense, but is there a better name I can use? That name is challenging to say in conversation" Ulrich says trying to figure out what's happening.

"My code name is Yui, will that suffice?" The girl: Yui asks, trying to make him at least a little comfortable.

"Yeah, that'll work, I guess." He scratches the back of his head nervously. "Anyway, you said this world's name is Aincrad? How did I get here?" Ulrich asks, finally calming down somewhat.

"I do not know how you entered Sword Art Online, and neither does Cardinal. I was sent to determine if you were a threat to the game, and upon investigation, I do not find you as such, even though you did not enter this world through a NerveGear simulation." Yui says, blinking up at him curiously.

The unusual terms that Yui mentions: Sword Art Online, Cardinal, and NerveGear are confusing Ulrich even more.

"So... I'm in a world called... "Sword Art Online?" Or is it Aincrad?" Ulrich says, rather freaked out, like the forest's name, he is doubting what he is hearing extensively.

"You are in a Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, or VRMMORPG for short." Yui explains. "The game is called Sword Art Online, and this game's world is called Aincrad. Although, this might be a virtual reality in terms of environment, the rules are very life-like, if you die here in Aincrad, you will die in reality. The HP you currently have is in the upper left of your field of vision." Yui says the words slowly, since she is thinking Ulrich is not the most intelligent soul in the game.

Ulrich takes a look and sees that his HP is at a base of 250.

"I see... and, according to this, I only have 250 HP?" Ulrich asks.

"Yes, you have that much HP because you have not set your stats yet. I can offer a suggestion if you wish, considering your build." Yui says in a compassionate tone, surprising for an Artificial Intelligence program, well from Ulrich's point of view.

"I'd appreciate it. I'll need all the help I can get if I want to survive in this world." Ulrich sighs, frowning at the forest around them.

"Very well, let me teach you one of the most essential things in this world. Follow my movements exactly." Yui says, with Ulrich simply nodding in response. "Raise your right hand and do a downward swipe and you can access your 'system menu' by doing so."

Ulrich does as requested and opens what appears to be a list. He opens the 'inventory' tab and finds that he has only a katana, and around 50,000 of something called Col.

"I only have a single katana and something called Col, are all the players in this game supposed to have this little?" Ulrich says, frowning, as he was beginning to become a little frustrated. He has no clue what was going on or why he was here. He shakes his head and looks over at Yui, who is frowning as well. Best that he just go with the flow for now.

"Bizarre, let me examine your character data" Yui says and examines Ulrich's character data thoroughly.

"The equipment you originally held heavily conflicted with Cardinal's programs, so they had to be removed; Allow me to grant you duplicates."

Yui creates a chest that spawns in front of the pair and Yui motions Ulrich to open it. When he opens the chest, he finds armor suitable for his inspiration of Samurai and various other things. Ulrich reopens his inventory and equips the new equipment, looking more like his Lyoko form.

Yui took about twenty minutes or so to explain many of the delicate parts of the game's features and systems to Ulrich after he finishes equipping his items.

"Now you need to set your stats, your build seems to heavily favor balance. Allow me to suggest this," Yui says, then pulls up a list that says 'Strength: 19, Constitution: 18, Dexterity: 18, Intelligence: 18, Charisma: 18, Willpower: 18, Perception: 18.

"I'll go with this list, though I'm going to exchange the extra point in Strength with Constitution." Ulrich says. Yui blinks, then smiles helpfully.

"As you wish. Now, set your stats in your character window. They will change eventually, since Cardinal will be setting your level to 30, and you will have access to 8 skill slots, though you will only be able to choose 4 skills; your abilities from wherever you came from crossed over and have been approved," Yui says.

"So my Super-Sprint, Triplicate, Triangulate, and Katana were approved? Cool." Ulrich says with a small smile, since he is very good with these abilities.

"Now that I've helped you acclimate to SAO, I must depart, as I am forbidden contact with players." Yui says with a slight sadness in her tone, then her character vanishes.

"Goodbye...Yui" Ulrich frowns. He feels a little sorry for her, which surprises him, because of his bad memory with AIs. He looks back down at his menu and goes over his list of skills.

* * *

_Super-sprint – 500/1000_

_Triangulate – 500/1000_

_Triplicate – 350/1000_

_Katana – 800/1000_

_Extended Weight Limit – 250/1000_

_Night Vision – 500/1000_

_Tracking – 600/1000_

_Battle Healing – 400/1000_

After Ulrich closes his menu, he hears a twig snap a little to his left. His ears twitch at the sound, and he turns around and quickly draws his katana to see a monster with long tusks that come from it's mouth charging at him with blood lust. He glares at it and takes a battle stance.

"I will not let this game beat me, I _will_ return to Jeremie and my friends. I will survive this Aincrad and beat this game!"

Ulrich then lets out a battle cry and charges at the monster known as [Savage Forest Boar].

* * *

**Author Notes:**

**The new skills that Ulrich has: Triangulate, Triplicate, and Super-sprint work in these ways.**

**Triangulate allows Ulrich to move very quickly to form a triangle shape around an enemy, it hides him behind 3 clones which allow Ulrich to attack with the element of surprise.**

**Triplicate allow Ulrich to create 2 clones of himself to assist him in battle, but doing so leaves him with only a 1/3 of his max HP.**

**Super-Sprint is essentially a rename of the sprint skill, but there's no cooldown and allows him to sprint much faster, though it is possible for him to become exhausted much easier.**

**Also, this is my very first story that I'm submitting to this story so don't expect absolute perfection from me.**


	3. Chapter 1: A Fateful Encounter

Field Leaders: Solaris and Masaru are exploring the Forest of Doubt when they encounter most unusual but convenient of miracles: A way through the misleading forest to the dungeon

Rated: AU Fiction T

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works._

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [6:00] January 16th 2023

Location: [Floor 24 – Forest of Doubt]

Solaris + Masaru POV:

Solaris and Masaru are leading a small team into the Forest of Doubt a day ahead of schedule with a small unit of warriors while Kirito and Kibaou are busy preparing for the upcoming boss fight. The mythic legend of the Forest is scaring Masaru and a few other members of the unit.

"Solaris...are you sure about this? What if the Forest isn't the way to the dungeon?" Masaru asks worriedly.

"Masaru, we've searched every nook and cranny of this floor except here, this Forest has to lead to the dungeon" Solaris says seriously. "Are you scared Masaru?" Solaris continues, sensing the fear in him and sneers slightly.

"I am not scared! I'm trying to brace myself in case the forest is not what we hope it is" Masaru says, putting up a front.

"Okay then, let's get going Mr. Brave" Solaris says, still sneering. "Everyone, keep your minds focused on our goal: reaching the dungeon. As long as we stay together and keep ourselves focused, we'll have nothing to fear from this place." Solaris says seriously before beginning her march.

The team departs to explore the Forest and find the exit that leads to the dungeon, if it does actually lead to the dungeon.

"Actually Solaris, have you heard the new rumor about this place?" Masaru asks calmly.

"New rumor?" Solaris asks curiously.

"Yeah, apparently, a lone swordsman resides in this forest and is the reason why so many people apparently vanish in this place." Masaru says calmly.

"Interesting...I wonder if that swordsman is one of our players from this game, maybe he's a quest giver or monster...either way, we should keep our eyes open everyone" Solaris says with anticipation, both the cautious type and fascination.

* * *

Ulrich POV:

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00] January 16th 2023

"I've been here for nearly a day and a half now and I haven't been able to find food anywhere...no berries from bushes or fruit from trees...my stomach will not stop rumbling and it's keeping me from sleeping as well...I need to get some food..." Ulrich says somewhat calmly and angrily as well, he's been wandering aimlessly in this forest ever since he arrived and he has not been able to find a way out. "My survival tactics are no good in this place...whenever I try slashing a tree to use as a marker, it nearly instantaneously recovers. I've tried hunting these monsters to get food but...all I'm getting is raw meat, and I have no way to cook it." Ulrich moans as he says this, his stomach rumbling like a tiger that hasn't ate in over a week. "Why did I not ask that AI if I could've gotten a day or two's worth of food in addition to my equipment...what was her name again...? Yui...?"

Ulrich continues wandering through the Forest aimlessly when he begins to hear the sound of movement nearby, however he has no way of knowing whether it's human or monster because he'd have to step out of cover to find out, and he'd prefer to hide if it is a monster. He decides to climb a nearby tree to use as cover and get an aerial view of what's making the sound.

* * *

Solaris + Masaru POV:

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00] January 16th 2023

"Solaris, we've been wandering aimlessly for hours! Are we even making progress?!" Masaru asks angrily.

"I will admit that this Forest is more complex than I anticipated, but we'll get through eventually" Solaris says calmly, trying to keep morale high.

"...Very well Solaris, let's keep going everyone" Masaru says with a sigh, but speaks bravely toward the unit.

"Wait...I feel uneasy all of a sudden...it's almost like we're being watched...up there!" Solaris says with a little hesitation, as if she's unsure of herself, but says in shock when noticing the figure up in the tree.

"That must be a demi-human!" Masaru says angrily, he hates how demi-humans look so close to players, which has caused the death of atleast two hundred players.

"_Crap...they noticed me...and in my current state, I can't fight well...I suppose I'll need to try drawing it out_" Ulrich says to himself nervously and jumping down from the tree to evade the spear that Solaris threw his way.

The spear throwing caused Ulrich to jump from the tree and land at ground level. He quickly draws his katana to block all of the attacks coming from the team of ten attacking him in all directions. However, Solaris is becoming a little suspicious about all this.

"_This is odd...Demi-human AI doesn't work like this...they aren't the defensive types...they go all out..._" Solaris says to herself in mild confusion, so she activates her unique skill: Sleuth to try getting information on this enemy and gets this report '_Humanoid player, Level 30, possesses the skills: tracking, battle healing, katana, night vision, extended weight limit, and three unique skills'_ and as a result of this discovery and when Masaru's about to land a successful attack "Wait everyone!" Solaris shouts, causing everyone to stop in surprise.

"Solaris, what's wrong with you?! I was just about to kill this monster!" Masaru says angrily, while seeing Solaris slowly approach after grabbing her spear.

"This is no monster, I used my Sleuth skill to analyze this guy and he's an actual player, besides demi-human AI isn't defensive, they always go all out with combat." Solaris says logically.

"Now that you mention it...it makes sense" Masaru says, seeing Solaris' logic here, especially since he's fought demi-humans before.

"What...are you...all talking...about?" Ulrich asks weakly, his stomach rumbling like three starving tigers now.

"Hahaha, I'd consider that proof that he's human, you hungry new guy?" Solaris says laughingly.

"...don't mock me...like that...and...yeah..." Ulrich says angrily, but his stomach is taking control near the end.

"Okay look, I don't have much, but I do have some food you can have." Solaris says, looking through her inventory and spawning a sandwich she bought in town and passes it to Ulrich.

Ulrich looks toward the group of ten, still a little cautious after the fact they all tried to kill him literally a minute ago and slowly takes the sandwich but eats it like an animal, much to the horror of everyone around him.

"Wow...you really must've been hungry...you're eating like an animal..." Solaris says awestruck.

"Tell me about it..." Masaru says, also awestruck.

After a minute passes, Ulrich has finished eating and begins talking to the group.

"Thanks...I've been wandering aimlessly through this damn forest for a day and a half now, I've been trying to find some sort of civilization, but all I found was a tower swarming with monsters..." Ulrich says calmly, smiling slightly at the fact his stomach's full for now.

"You're welcome and...you said you encountered a tower in this forest? That must be the dungeon for this floor, can you lead us there...?" Solaris says in mild shock and stops slowly near the end.

"Hmm? Oh...my name is Ulrich...Ulrich Stern, what are your names? And sure, I'll lead you to that tower when we can find our way to the lake." Ulrich was a little confused as to why Solaris suddenly slowed down near the end of her speech but figured it out after a minute.

"Um...are you really so comfortable giving your real name here?" Solaris asks surprised.

"Is that a bad thing?" Ulrich asks curiously, he doesn't know that in this game, next to no one uses their real name.

"Not...exactly but...it's just rare to see someone willing to give their real name, what's your game name?" Solaris says, a little confused at the moment.

Ulrich opens his character data and opens his profile

"My character status shows that my game name is Ulrich Stern." Ulrich says calmly.

"...Why would you choose to use your real life name in this game?" Masaru asks in mild shock.

"Masaru...I want to speak to you privately, keep an eye on this guy everyone" Solaris whispers when speaking with Masaru but says in her usual tone to everyone else.

Solaris and Masaru walk a short distance, to avoid anyone from hearing their upcoming conversation.

"Masaru, there is no way this guy's telling the truth about his name, I looked through the Monument of Life the first day of the launch, and Ulrich Stern was not in the list." Solaris says seriously.

"Is it possible you could've overlooked it Solaris?" Masaru asks, doubting Solaris somewhat.

"No, I recorded each and every name on that list, Ulrich Stern is not among them." Solaris says angrily.

"...I will admit this is bizarre but look, this guy can lead us to the dungeon, let's just follow him, find a shortcut back to town that can circumvent this forest, bring him to town and just drop him off." Masaru says calmly.

"Works for me, though...Masaru..." Solaris says quietly.

"Solaris, are you contemplating bringing this guy into our ranks?" Masaru asks semi-angrily.

"Let's look at the facts, he's an utter unknown to us, the fact he's been in this forest long enough to make a mental map and maintain a degree of certainty, he could be a good asset to us. At the bare minimal, we need to keep an attentive eye on him in case he tries killing any of us." Solaris says seriously.

"...I can see why you'd want to keep an eye on this unknown variable, but if you truly want to recruit him, fine, but test him first. I do not want to trust a person who would backstab me when he saw fit." Masaru says seriously.

"Oh, I intend to test him, certainly...Elena, can you come over here please?" Solaris says mischievously when speaking with Masaru but assumes a serious tone when calling for Elena.

Elena rushes over from the group keeping an eye on Ulrich to Solaris' side.

"Yes Solaris? Did you need something?" Elena asks curiously.

"I need you to keep this secret, but we're going to be running tests on this...Ulrich's personality and skills, we need to see how he acts casually and when under distress, his results will help us determine if he should be among our ranks or not, I trust you can help me judge his personality? Masaru, I'm leaving you in charge of judging his skills." Solaris says seriously.

"Got it, how can I help?" Elena asks.

"Masaru and I are going to be acting hostile enough to try provoking responses on his personality, but I want you to be the sympathetic soul that's on his side, I trust you can keep that charade going Masaru, Elena?" Solairs says calmly.

"I can make it work, so we're trying to use anger to provoke a response from personality? I...can't see that ending well" Elena says quietly with a little worry.

"We'll make it work somehow, this is something we need to do quickly, if the other clearers learn of this, they'll most likely be in an uproar, so we need to deliver a trained, cooperative warrior." Solaris says calmly.

"Yeah, that'd be a problem, anyway, Solaris, how aggressive do you want me to perform in this assignment?" Masaru asks...too happily.

"Keep a lid on it, act mean enough to get on his nerves, but please try to avoid provoking him to where he'll want to kill us all..." Solaris says nervously, she's a little scared of how Masaru seems to be enjoying this.

"Got it" Masaru says calmly.

The three walk back to Ulrich to begin the trek to the dungeon.

"Okay...Ulrich, lead us to the dungeon, got it?" Solaris says coldly, beginning the plan right about now.

"Alright..." Ulrich says quietly, beginning the walk to the lake first, then the dungeon, with the unit of ten following.

* * *

General POV:

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00] January 16th 2023

The group of eleven have made it to the dungeon entrance after an hour of walking, and have discovered the circumvent point to the nearest settlement to the dungeon.

"Color me impressed, we've actually found it, this is the dungeon alright." Solaris says in mild shock.

"I've been walking to and from the lake and here a few times by mistake...It's why I know the path so well..." Ulrich says quietly.

"I see, well, good work...Ulrich..." Elena says slowly.

"Let's get going, and Ulrich, put this robe on" Solaris says calmly, while summoning a robe from her inventory and tossing it to him.

"Why...do you want me to wear this?" Ulrich asks curiously.

"For now, you need to keep a low profile and that outfit...makes it impossible, just wear it" Solaris says calmly at the start and a little angrily at the end.

"Fine..." Ulrich says angrily in a quiet tone and equips the robe.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [11:00] January 16th 2023

Location [Floor 24 – Lideas]

Solaris, Masaru, and her unit have returned to Lideas with Ulrich in tow in his robe. Considering how Ulrich doesn't seem to have any other clothing, Solaris sends Masaru and Elena to bring Ulrich to a shop to get some new clothing to make him blend in more and not stand out in a crowd.

"Masaru, Elena, I want the both of you to bring Ulrich to a few shops, he told us that he has nothing but the clothes on his back, his katana, and 50,000 Col. Get him to buy some new clothing, a back up weapon or two, and supplies." Solaris says seriously.

"Got it Solaris" Elena says calmly.

Because Solaris, Elena, and Masaru were in a different part of the town square a ways away from Ulrich, they were able to talk at a normal tone. Masaru and Elena depart to help Ulrich prepare the essentials for combat.

"_Hmm...Elena's always just been a regular warrior in my unit but...she's been showing remarkable initiative as of late, maybe she deserves a promotion of sorts..._" Solaris says to herself quietly.

* * *

Ulrich, Masaru, and Elena's POV:

After Ulrich learned Elena and Masaru were told to help him shop for the essentials, they set out to help him do so and not use impulse buying for anything. They first bring him to the clothing shop to get some new trends, with Ulrich surprisingly selecting a long-sleeved shirt colored purple and red and buying two pauldrons colored green with a single thick white stripe across the pauldrons going up to down and attaching them to the outfit as casual wear, with Ulrich buying a set of light chain-mail for combat.

"Wow, considering the outfit you were wearing before, this is a big twist..." Elena says in mild shock, talking about the casual attire.

"It's my choice and I feel like this just fits me best" Ulrich says quietly.

"Eh, let him pick what he wants, just as long as he blends in better." Masaru says calmly.

"_Masaru...do you think you'll be able to control yourself? You seem way too eager about this..._" Elena whispers in concern.

"_Just chill Elena, I have this fake anger under control, I won't let it take control of me as long as I think of following orders_" Masaru whispers.

"_Now I'm even more worried!_" Elena whispers in shock.

Ulrich has noticed this and tilts his head slightly in confusion but ignores it because he just doesn't care right now. They leave the clothing shop and walk toward stalls to buy crystals, potions, and weapons.

"Ulrich, you know, I'm surprised you use a katana, I've only seen one katana user and that's a player named Klein, leader of a small guild called Fuurinkazan. And...he only got the skill two days ago, so he has very little experience with it, but you...you seem to have a lot of experience with Katanas, what skills do you have actually?" Elena asks curiously.

"I have three unique abilities I don't feel like saying right now, but according to my skills, I have 100 points out of a thousand for katana, 250 points out of a thousand for something called...Extended Weight Limit, 300 points for Night Vision, 300 for Tracking, and 150 for...Battle Healing" Ulrich says quietly, lying to hide the secret that Cardinal and that AI: Yui, went to such lengths to give him such advanced allowances because of his unorthodox entry into Aincrad.

"_Ulrich was twitching slightly when he talked about his skills...he may be lying, I'm curious as to what his skill levels really are...maybe I'll be able to get him to squeal while I'm 'helping' him out_" Elena says to herself.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00] January 16th 2023

Ulrich bought a new katana to use as back-up, and a good amount of crystals recommended by Elena and Masaru, and return to Solaris in the town square, who has already gathered a group of warriors for the upcoming boss battle

"Elena, Masaru, you're both here, good, I don't need to send anyone to track you down now. I've made a decision on the unit roster for this boss. Elena, sorry to say but you need to stay behind on this one, Masaru, you're with me and Kirito." Solaris says calmly.

"Got it Solaris, what's the size of the team?" Masaru asks.

"Thirty, I've sent messages to the people I'm recruiting to this dungeon, they'll meet us outside the circumvent point we found." Solaris says nonchalantly.

"Okay Sol, but why keep me back?" Elena asks somewhat angrily, trying to understand Solaris' logic here.

"We can't have all of our best going to the dungeon at once, it's too risky, Elena, stay back and try preparing for the absolute worst, just in case..." Solaris says gravely.

"I see now, well...best of luck to you all" Elena says quietly, feeling a tiny bit left out.

Solaris walks toward Elena and whispers

"_Elena, I want you to watch over Ulrich, see if you can learn anything about him. I'd try to do this myself, but my responsibilities as field leader take priority here. That's the real reason why I want you to stay behind, though the reason I said is true as well. Best of luck, 2nd in command_" Solaris says calmly, and proudly near the end.

"_I see now, I won't let you down. I'll bring him through some monster zones and make my own assumptions on him._" Elena says quietly.

"_You do that, if we're lucky, we'll have floor __twenty five unlocked in...five hours time._" Solaris says calmly.


	4. Chapter 2: Trials of Escalation

After 2 years of being in Aincrad and this different world, does Ulrich even desire to return to his own world and try to find a way to live in this new world?

Rated: AU Fiction T

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works._

A/N: I'll also be using a common time system of [9:30], [14:00] etc. [9:30] is 9:30 in the morning, [14:00] is 2:00 in the afternoon, so on and so forth.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [18:30] May 20th 2024

Location: [Floor 61 – Salemburg]

Ulrich is currently relaxing in a house he bought in the city for a price of around 10 million Col, including furniture, though he's not truly at peace, since he's still thinking about his companions in his true world. Even though he's been here over a year and befriended many of the clearers, he still feels like an outcast and keeps to himself, he has also declined multiple guild invitations to fight as a solo player.

"I've been here for so long...my friends must be worried sick by now but...what were their names... I haven't been able to contact them at all since I arrived in this world of Aincrad" Ulrich says with a sigh.

There's a knock on the door not long after he said this to himself

"Who is it?" Ulrich asks in a calm tone.

"It's me, Kazuto, can I come in?" Kazuto asks.

"Uh, sure, but give me a minute, I'm still wearing my combat gear" Ulrich begins unequipping his signature combat gear, which really does make him look like a modern samurai, to his casual gear, which he changed at floor 40, which is a long sleeved shirt with light black and silver colors. After Ulrich changed his clothes, he opens the door to let his friend: Kazuto in.

"Is there a reason why you're here? I'd imagine you'd want to spend all your time with your girlfriends: Asuna, Silica, Lizbeth, and Sachi." Ulrich says while laughing near the end.

"Ulrich...I don't think of them that way, you know that!" Kazuto says while blushing immensely out of embarrassment.

"Hardly convincing when you're blushing like a little school girl Kazuto" Ulrich says while laughing his butt off.

"Knock it off! This is not funny..." Kazuto says in anger.

"I suppose so, sorry about that, I needed a bit of a laugh" Ulrich says apologetically, still laughing a little.

"Actually, now that I think about it, we've been friends since the 30th floor and you still haven't talked about your friends or your home, especially since we're on a first name basis" Kazuto says, calming down slightly, but is still mildly flushed because of what just happened.

"Because I've been trying to focus on trying to clear this game and return to my world. But I suppose I ought to mention it...not that I can remember much, to be honest" Ulrich says calming himself down a little.

"You can't remember your world? I can relate, I myself can hardly remember the outside world, very few people I know of do." Kazuto says.

"After spending around three years here, I wouldn't be surprised that your memory of the real world is vague." Ulrich says logically.

"You're lucky though Ulrich, we're all trapped with a time limit before our bodies eventually give in" Kazuto says with mild jealousy, since Ulrich can keep fighting since his body is actually in Aincrad, unlike everyone else.

"I wouldn't call it lucky much, atleast you live in the world outside of Aincrad, I'm a mere intruder, I don't belong here, and don't forget about that annoying problem I have..." Ulrich says.

"That kind of talk is making me mad Ulrich, granted you did not enter Sword Art Online of your own free will, but you do belong with us, no matter what, and...it must be terrifying for you when it happens" Kazuto says seriously.

"It is terrifying, and Kirito...no...Kazuto, thank you" Ulrich says with mixed emotions.

"How is Elena treating you by the way? Is she here?" Kazuto asks with a few laughs.

"Elena's currently out shopping, she left about 10 minutes ago, but she said she'll be back in about a half hour." Ulrich says.

"I see, that's good to hear" Kazuto says chuckling.

The door opens at this point and Elena walks in, wearing a new outfit: a robe-like outfit with dark violet colors with gold trims, there is a Y shape pattern in the center of the outfit.

"I'm back, it was easier to get the ingredients than I thought, oh, Kazuto, what are you doing here?" Elena asks.

"I came to talk with Ulrich a little bit, but I should get going" Kazuto says while beginning to depart.

"You don't need to leave, we're just about to eat, feel free to join in" Elena says, optimistically.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll need to decline" Kazuto says.

"Come on, I insist" Elena says, pushing the subject further.

"Just give up Kazuto, you know she's not going to give in until you do" Ulrich says laughing.

Kazuto exchanges a glance with Elena and Ulrich and sighs

"Very well, I'll stay and eat with you all" Kazuto says in defeat.

"Excellent, now, I'd better start; Ulrich, can you handle the silverware? I'll do the cooking, I don't want a repeat of last time" Elena says and shivers near the end of it, the last time Ulrich cooked, he somehow managed to pull off six simultaneous explosions, something not even humanely possible in this world. (A/N 1: Below)

"Alright, Alright; Kazuto, feel free to stay in the den until dinner's ready. I need to do my part here" Ulrich says as he leaves to the dining room.

Kazuto takes this time to head to the den to relax by the fire, this is the first time he's relaxed in about a month, and is quickly enjoying every possible minute of it.

"How do you like the den Kazuto?" Ulrich asks, as he enters the room.

"It's excellent, considering how more obsessed you are with combat, I wouldn't expect you to have such an excellent house." Kazuto says with a little surprise.

"You can thank Elena for that, originally, I only had a simple kitchen, bedroom, and dining room in this place, she suggested adding extensions and upgrades to the furniture to make this place a little more appropriate when you share a house with roommates." Ulrich says.

"I really should thank her then, hehe" Kazuto says with a few laughs.

"Dinner's ready!" Elena shouts from the kitchen.

"We should go eat, before Elena gets angry..." Ulrich says with a laugh masking nervous emotions.

"She's that scary?" Kazuto asks in a whisper.

"Mhm...she's friendly most of the time, but if you get on her bad side, she'll go all out..." Ulrich whispers in nervousness.

The pair go to the dining room to eat the meal Elena prepared for the group here. After Kazuto, Ulrich, and Elena finished eating their meal, Kazuto begins to depart.

"I appreciate that you went to such lengths for me, but I really must get going, I'll see you all later" Kazuto says with a bow.

Kazuto leaves Ulrich's house rather happily, laughing a little.

"Having Kazuto here makes me remember my first month here..." Ulrich says quietly.

"Is something wrong Ulrich? You seem a little uneasy" Elena asks in concern.

"Hm...I'm remembering how I acted the first month I came here...I hate how stubborn I was back then, I was so mean to you, Kazuto and the others." Ulrich says sadly.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time [10:00] February 1st, 2023

Location: [Floor 25 Hidden Dungeon]

Ulrich is with a group of clearers in the 25th floor dungeon's scouting team. He is accompanying a team of four: Solaris, Masaru, Amaterasu, and Elena.

The front-liners have four field leaders who are the only ones keeping order among this sloppy organization of fighters, but they do a great job of doing it, and are able to making this sloppy mishmash of warriors organized and effective; These four leaders are Solaris, Masaru, Kirito, and Kibaou.

Solaris is the best strategist the front-liners possess and she is continuously able to think of strategies that maximize combat strength for the front-liners, however she is very withdrawn because of mild ridicule for her extensive association with this group, her speciality is developing tactics for the others. Masaru is one of the absolute strongest members in the front-liners and is the field leader in charge of leading the fighters in battle alongside Kirito. Kibaou is the field leader involving himself with information gathering which is the most important job of all, but Kibaou is the most hated field leader because of his general personality.

Solaris has decided to accompany Ulrich, Elena, Masaru, and Amaterasu in this dungeon scouting expedition, to help oversee Ulrich's test

"Alright everyone, let's get going with the investigation, the others are depending on us" Solaris says with pride.

"Solaris, I have to ask, why did you decide to come with us? You're not much of a fighter" Elena asks out of curiosity, trying to keep her cover.

"Mmm...no real reason, I just wanted to see how well Ulrich does in battle, I'm putting a lot of trust into faith, and I don't like that. Particularly with how no one noticed him before, not even I have seen him before we explored the Forest of Doubt" Solaris says, acting like she has no reason to be there, even though she intentionally gave her reason.

"I will not disappoint your expectations; I am your lance, give me a target and I will slay it, no matter what." Ulrich says quietly.

"Talk is cheap Ulrich, prove yourself through your actions" Masaru says, doing a good job at sounding mildly hostile.

"Gladly, I will do whatever's needed to perform my mission" Ulrich says coldly.

* * *

The scouting party of five sets out to explore as much of the dungeon as possible. The team of five includes the fighters: Ulrich, Masaru, and Elena, with two support staff: Solaris and Amaterasu. They have a very good balance with Ulrich's Katana, Masaru's one handed sword & shield with a back-up two-handed axe, and Elena's two-handed sword, with Solaris and Amaterasu providing occasional combat support with their spear and rapier respectively.

"Ulrich, your skill with the katana is amazing, did you have training in real life or something?" Elena says rather happily, amazed at Ulrich's apparent mastery of Katana.

"Well...I suppose so..." Ulrich says quietly.

"Elena, why are you letting yourself be so easily impressed by this novice?" Masaru says, not out of jealousy precisely, but out of contempt, that she respects a person that he considers to be an absolute rookie.

"I'm impressed because his skill is remarkable, Klein's considered the best Katana user so far in Sword Art Online, but Ulrich's skill with a katana is on a different level entirely" Elena says rather proudly.

Masaru sighs, knowing he won't be able to win the argument against Elena "Very well, I'll admit his talents are...unusual at best, but he is skilled."

During the thorough exploration of the dungeon, they encounter a rather infamous character dressed in black, who has made a name for himself as Aincrad's very first beater, is seen fighting an armored skeleton monster and defeats it quickly as the group of five arrive on the scene.

"Kirito, what are you doing here on your own?" Masaru asks in shock.

"Huh? Masaru, you've come in a team, I presume you're doing reconnaissance?" Kirito asks in equal shock.

"That, and I'm testing a new warrior's combat ability. Elena, Solaris, and Amaterasu have come with me to assist me in this goal." Masaru says.

"Well, since you came all this way, I'll accompany you all, atleast, for a little while" Kirito says quietly.

"Having a strong warrior like Kirito will help us immensely." Elena says with a few laughs.

"Let's go then" Masaru says.

* * *

The team of five recruit Kirito into their ranks for the time being to continue investigation of the dungeon, with Kirito's skills increasing the power of the group. The group of six find a safe room and take a short break to recover their strength. Kirito, Masaru, and Solaris form a small circle in the center of the room, with Ulrich on his own in the southwest corner, and Elena & Amaterasu in the southeast corner.

"Masaru, I recognize everyone from this group except that person, who is he?" Kirito asks in a casual tone.

"His name appears to be Ulrich, no one has been able to get any information about him though, not even Solaris" Masaru says in a slightly annoyed tone, as he doesn't appear to like Ulrich much.

"Yeah...he's definitely no beta tester, his attitude is a little too green considering the floor we found him on, and I was able to compile a list of the 10000 players that bought this game, His name wasn't on the list when I last checked it. Is it possible that Kayaba released more copies of SAO?" Solaris says with mixed emotion.

"It's unlikely, for two reasons: Argus wouldn't dare make more copies with the bad reputation this game now has, and even if the reputation was repaired, the fact is that we're trapped here, would anyone WANT to be here?" Kirito says rather angrily.

"Kirito makes a point there, Argus wouldn't be able to get away with imprisoning more people." Masaru says quietly.

* * *

While Kirito, Masaru, and Solaris are talking about Ulrich's mysterious entrance, Elena and Amaterasu are in their corner talking about various things

"Elena, how long have you had that sword?" Amaterasu asks, knowing that if the weapon breaks, they'll have one less fighter.

"Not too long actually, I bought it on the 23rd floor. Before then, I haven't used a new sword since floor 10." Elena says rather non-nonchalantly.

"I see, so your sword should still have excellent durability, that's good to know" Amaterasu says optimistically.

"Why did you ask me this Amaterasu? Are you concerned about our equipment with your job as smith?" Elena asks, with a little confusion.

"More or less, it's my job to keep your equipment in top condition, and since Kirito joined our team, my job may get even more troublesome..." Amaterasu says sadly.

"Sorry Amaterasu, I feel bad that you're the only smith with us" Elena says sadly, realizing the extent of her job in the group.

* * *

Elena and Amaterasu continue this line of conversation for quite a while, while the mysterious warrior: Ulrich, is merely sitting in his corner, waiting for the others to finish their recovery and conversations so they can leave. Elena and Solaris approach Ulrich, as they decided to try getting him to open up, even a tiny bit.

"Ulrich, is something wrong? You've been quiet all this time" Elena asks with concern.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just waiting for you all to finish, so we can get back to battling" Ulrich says quietly.

"Yeah...it doesn't work that way, if we're going to work together, we need to make sure everyone is able to get along, and you're not making the best example by how hesitant Masaru is." Solaris says stubbornly.

"How is it my fault that they won't trust me? I'm only here to fight." Ulrich says quietly, still not willing to apparently trust people.

"Ulrich, look, we're not trying to put blame on you, but Solaris has a point, don't you know that if there's no unity between teammates, their strength will decline?" Elena points out, trying to appeal to Ulrich's personality.

"For that to occur, I would need to know them and trust them to have my back, I do not trust any of you to protect me, I will keep myself safe" Ulrich says stubbornly, sending a scowl to Solaris.

"Mataku...Elena, you can deal with this guy if you wish, I'm going to coordinate some strategies with Masaru and Kirito. I'll tell you them later, and you can pass it to this guy..." Solaris says with a sigh in mild anger.

Solaris leaves the corner very annoyed and returns to Masaru, Kirito, and Amaterasu, who have gathered in the middle of the room.

"Ulrich, why are you being so cold to your allies? It helps no one in the long term" Elena asks compassionately.

"...I was forced to enter this world against my will. I have no desire to be buddy-buddy with the people here" Ulrich says quietly.

"Ulrich, wouldn't you find it helpful to have a trusted ally at your back, trying to fight on your own will not help you in the long run" Elena says, trying to encourage Ulrich to accept his teammates.

"I only trust three people right now, and none of them are here, so get off my back..." Ulrich says quietly, keeping his stance.

"Ulrich, listen, I want to help you, just give me a chance" Elena says in a relatively sad tone.

"Look, do you honestly expect me to trust people with my life from a single encounter? I am not that trusting" Ulrich says angrily, finally losing his calm composure.

* * *

Elena realizes that trying to talk to Ulrich now is becoming pointless and walks away to rejoin Solaris and the others. After 10 minutes, Ulrich finally joins the group to discuss the strategy for the dungeon.

"Our plan is to form two groups of three and try to reach the boss chamber, we are to leave the dungeon at 17:00 and combine our map data." Solaris says.

"Solaris, how will our teams be divided? Males and females?" Masaru asks.

"No, if we were to do that, Elena would be my team's sole warrior. Ulrich and Elena will be with me, Kirito and Masaru, go with Amaterasu" Solaris says.

"Solaris, you want to trust a rookie to be in your personal guard?!" Masaru asks in shock.

"Don't question my strategies Masaru, you'll never win" Solaris says with a small laugh.

"...Very well, but Elena, make sure you take precautions to keep Solaris alive, if we lose her, we'll lose one of the very few people capable of leading us" Masaru says.

"Understood, but I hardly think that's necessary with two fighters nearby her" Elena says in a serious tone.

"Make them anyway, I don't trust Ulrich one bit..." Masaru says with mild anger in his voice.

"Understood" Elena says quietly.

"Alright, we have our assignments, let's get going." Solaris says.

* * *

The group of six leave the safe room and split ways to thoroughly explore the dungeon and then bring the map data back to Floor 25's city: Iruma, with Kirito, Masaru, and Amaterasu going left, and Solaris, Ulrich, and Elena going right.

Solaris is leading the team with Ulrich and Elena fighting the monsters on her behalf, with her gathering intelligence on the strengths and weaknesses of the monsters for future reference using both general observation and using her unique skill, hoping that Kirito and Amaterasu are taking the time to analyze monster information as well.

"Solaris, why would you want me to go with you? Surely Masaru would've been a better choice" Ulrich says quietly.

"Consider this a test Ulrich, I want to know if you belong with the front-liners, we need the best of the best here. You have the skills, certainly, but your personality is making us doubt you, if you'd be willing to cooperate, we'd gladly accept you in our ranks" Solaris says.

"Yeah, that's what I've been trying to tell you Ulrich" Elena says optimistically.

"I see... Solaris; Look out!" Ulrich says noticing a monster charging toward Solaris.

Ulrich sees a monster charging toward Solaris with a skeletal longsword drawn ready to strike Solaris, however, Ulrich uses his Super-sprint skill to push Solaris out of the way of the monster, which succeeds but the monster's slash successfully targets Ulrich's left arm and dismembers it, which quickly disintegrates into millions of little pixels, causing Ulrich's HP to go down by a third. Solaris and Elena stare in horror at what the monster did, this is the first known reported case of someone's limb actually being dismembered in this game.

"Ugh...I will not let that slide...! Your life ends here!" Ulrich says in pain, then draws his katana with his right arm and then uses his fast speed to cut the monster in half, which nearly instantly destroys it.

Ulrich pants slightly from the immense adrenaline that his body generated to keep himself going when his arm was dismembered and with the monster slain, Ulrich's adrenaline dissipates and he collapses from pain and shock.

"Ulrich! Are you okay?!" Elena asks in shock, with Elena and Solaris running towards his side.

"I'm...fine..." Ulrich says, trying to hide his pain, as the pain absorber that exists with the NerveGear is non-existent for him, since his mind and body both exist in Aincrad, unlike the others, who only exist here in their minds, but his attempt to hide his pain is failing badly.

"Ulrich...why did you do that?" Solaris asks sadly, trying to find out why he would do this.

"...I am your lance and shield, I also am following Masaru's request, you must live if we are to advance...I am but a single fighter, fighters are seldom missed, but strategists are valuable and must be protected, no matter what" Ulrich says quietly and nonchalantly, also in pain.

"Ulrich...you idiot" Solaris says, looking like she's about to start crying.

"Solaris..." Ulrich says quietly, still in pain.

"You won't be much help in combat in this state, I'm afraid I'll have to fight on my own" Elena says sadly.

"I'm sorry Elena, my decision to do this is forcing you to fight alone" Ulrich says quietly.

"You did it to protect me, the clearer's best strategist, you don't need to feel bad about it" Solaris says quietly

"Sol, should we continue advancing or should we try regrouping with Kirito's group and leave?" Elena asks.

Solaris takes a minute to examine the surroundings, sees that this is a dead-end route and notices that the energy of her teammates is dropping quickly.

"No, we're going to regroup, Ulrich's badly injured and I can tell you're getting tired Elena, I say this is enough" Solaris says, regaining her composure.

"Understood Sol, do you need someone to lean on Ulrich?" Elena asks in concern.

"I'll be alright" Ulrich says, obviously lying.

"Ulrich, you are lying right now, I know you're faking this. Sol, could I ask you to handle this job? I need to keep myself free in case we get attacked." Elena says confidently.

"Ulrich, what's really going on here? I don't understand how you can be in this much pain, doesn't the NerveGear prevent that from happening?" Solaris asks confused, while lightly hanging on to Ulrich, since he's still reeling in pain.

"I...can't really explain how, since I don't know myself, but I didn't enter Aincrad using this...NerveGear, both my body and mind exist in this world" Ulrich says quietly, not sure if he believes this himself.

"Wait...you didn't enter this game via the NerveGear? I thought all the players needed to register them with the Japanese server." Elena asks in mild shock.

"Wait...you all are from Japan?! How is it that I'm able to understand you? I lived in France all my life, and I never studied the Japanese language, not once." Ulrich says in utter shock.

"Hm...you make a fair point...I've met very few people who know a different language here in Japan, maybe this game has a built-in universal translator" Solaris says calmly, trying to figure out this mystery.

"This is a discussion that should be continued later on, let's go" Elena says in a serious tone.

* * *

Solaris nods and the group begins back-tracking to the area of the safe room where they find Masaru outside it, apparently waiting for Solaris' group to return.

"Solaris, you made it back, Kirito and Amaterasu are waiting outside the dungeon, we've found the boss chamber" Masaru says.

"Good timing actually, we're actually relatively weak in strength, Ulrich's been badly wounded and Elena's getting tired, I hope you're still in top shape" Solaris says with mixed feelings.

"I'm still in excellent condition, I have sympathy for you Elena, I know your constitution is not the highest among us, and why am I not surprised that Ulrich is the one in worst shape?" Masaru says with mixed feelings, he does feel bad for Elena, but he scoffs when he mentions Ulrich.

"Masaru, Ulrich got into this condition protecting me, if it wasn't for him, I'd be dead" Solaris says with mild anger, trying to send a message to him discreetly.

"Really; you certainly exceeded my very low expectations I have for you Ulrich" Masaru says, picking up on Solaris' message.

"Whatever, I'm not here to satisfy your expectations, I'm here to fight for my own goals, but I will protect those in my charge" Ulrich says quietly and angrily at the same time.

"Hmm...you passed my test Ulrich" Masaru says rather optimistically.

"Say what?" Ulrich asks very confused.

"My test was to see how much it took for you to want to work with teams. It might've been excessive, but Solaris, Elena, and I all had a test in store for you in this dungeon." Masaru says.

"The test Elena and I had were sort of similar so we bunched them together, we figured you were protective of your colleagues, but we had to know how far that went before we did anything challenging like bosses, we were all acting mean intentionally to try provoking your response, well except for Elena, anyway, I'm sorry about that" Solaris says with mixed emotion.

"And I suppose you couldn't tell me about this for secrecy's sake?" Ulrich asks in a slightly annoyed tone, since he lost a limb for this test, possibly for good.

"Yep, you passed, but I have to say...you sacrificing your arm was...not how I imagined you passing" Solaris says sadly.

"Yeah, that one caught me off-guard" Elena says sadly.

"We should get going, Kirito and Amaterasu are waiting on us" Masaru says.

Ulrich, Solaris, and Elena nod in approval then depart the dungeon to return to the others, who are waiting outside.

* * *

Author Notes:

For those of you wondering about that, Ulrich recovered his arm within a matter of hours, so he's not permanently dismembered with only his right arm.

1) I said the part of not humanely possible because ordinarily, the worst player chefs in Aincrad merely just burn the food outright, not cause it to explode, especially six times! Ulrich's cooking is on a different level entirely, no matter how high his cooking skill gets, it always results in explosions...for god knows what reason.


	5. Chapter 3: Revolution

Rated: AU Fiction T

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works_

The frontliners have been progressing at a rather fast rate with the assistance of powerful players like Kirito, Asuna, Masaru, and Solaris. Solaris has recently modified her strategies slightly to account for Ulrich's attendance and his unique skill set. Ulrich has established a relatively fragile bond with the field leaders: Kibaou, Kirito, Masaru, and Solaris, though Ulrich cannot stand Kibaou's very presence of his limitless arrogance, but Ulrich respects Kibaou's strength and very little else.

A/N: Let me be a little blunt and say that Masaru flips out slightly during floor 25, but the reasoning is logical considering the whole MMO thing and the fact that death ingame = death in reality, also the fact the chain of command was outright disobeyed.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00] February 12th 2023

Location: [Outside the Floor 25 Dungeon]

"Alright, here's our plan: We have four field leaders here, our reconnaissance show that this dungeon is massive in scope, so we are to split into four teams and make our way to the boss separately and regroup outside the boss chamber, we are not to trigger the boss until we all assemble, is that understood?" Solaris says with an authoritative tone.

"Got it Solaris" Masaru and Kirito say, with Kibaou merely grunting in approval.

"My team will have code-name Alpha, Kirito's team is Bravo, Masaru's Charlie, and Kibaou's Delta. We have 40 people here, counting us field leaders, each team gets 10 people, form up now" Solaris says with the same tone.

The clearers that were assembled split to form the teams, with Ulrich and Elena joining Alpha Squad at Solaris' request and Asuna joining Bravo for this specific dungeon.

"Okay, we have our teams, everyone; let's clear this dungeon!" Solaris says proudly.

The teams depart to begin the operation to clear the dungeon, as the passageways are too small for a large team of forty to reach the boss chamber, but luckily, there are multiple routes to reach the boss chamber.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00] February 12th 2023

Location: [Outside the Floor 25 Boss Chamber]

Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie squads have arrived outside the boss chamber on schedule, but find the door open.

"Why is this door open? The only way it could be is..." Elena says quietly.

"Let me see...everyone from Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie is here...that leaves..." Solaris says quietly, making a very quick head count.

"Damn you Kibaou! We were to supposed to wait for everyone to rendezvous here! Everyone, we're dropping our formation! We need to save what's left of Delta team's asses." Masaru says in a very annoyed tone.

The squads rush inside the chamber to find only three members of Delta remaining, with Kibaou among them.

"Everyone, surround the boss, follow my strategy!" Solaris says in an annoyed manner, knowing that Delta has committed the stupidest action ever: Facing a boss without waiting for the rest of the raid group.

Solaris activates her special Sleuth skill that was given to her by the system because of her job as strategist. The skill: Sleuth allows her to scan an enemy or boss for their strengths and weaknesses entirely.

"Okay...this boss is named Blade Dancer...it's very fast and agile but not very strong with physical strength, it relies on its fast combination attacks to deal damage. Defenders, change to Rapid Detection formation! Assault team, enter Hit and Run formation!" Solaris says in her typical authoritative tone, but she becomes weak after utilizing Sleuth.

However, because of the fact that Delta prematurely started the fight, very few people in this cell are ready to handle the fight and sixteen casualties occur before consistent damage is being inflicted to Blade Dancer. When the number of fighters in the cell reach ten, Ulrich decides to unleash the second of his Unique Skills: Triplicate, which divides himself into three and he uses a crystal to heal himself and the clones since they technically are 'one person'.

"Holy, what the hell kind of skill is that?!" Masaru says in shock.

"I never imagined it possible...he...divided into three..." Solaris says, also in shock.

With the three clones working together in complete sync, they somehow manage to dismember Blade Dancer's arms preventing it from attacking, but resulted in the two clones vanishing and returning to Ulrich's original form. However, the fact exists that Blade Dancer slayed Kibaou, the rest of Delta, and a very large majority of Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie teams, it left only a few people from the three squads remaining to fight it before Ulrich pulled this off. With Blade Dancer unable to attack, it then tries to evade the player's attacks as much as possible, but ultimately this attempt of evasion is foiled by new strategies from Solaris and the remaining players force Blade Dancer into a corner with Ulrich getting the Last Attack Bonus on Blade Dancer, with the surviving members of the cell that fought Blade Dancer being: Ulrich, Solaris, Masaru, Elena, Kirito, and Asuna.

The bonus Ulrich received was a set of medium armor called Dragoon Armor Set. Ulrich opens a preview window and finds that he'd look like an actual knight with this set. He decides to equip it because the statistics are eons better than his current armor. When Ulrich walks toward the others, he hears Masaru talk.

"God damn it Kibaou...Damn you! Why did you do something so stupid...you damn idiot..." Masaru says in a super annoyed tone.

"...We just lost one of our field leaders...It's going to take quite a while for us to recover from this loss, including the fact we just lost over 30 of our best fighters" Asuna says sadly and quietly at the same time.

While everyone's talking, Ulrich crouches down with his hands linked in front of him seemingly talking to himself.

"Ulrich, what are you doing?" Solaris asks out of curiosity.

"It's a...burial rite of sorts, I'm saying my farewells to these people..." Ulrich says quietly.

"Oh, I see...yeah, these were good people, the world is lesser for their loss..." Solaris says quietly.

"Solaris, you do understand that we're going to need new leadership soon, the three of us alone will not be able to lead the frontlines effectively anymore. We need specialized guilds to handle clearing the game, gathering our intelligence, and maintaining our equipment." Kirito says with little emotion.

"You're right but...the thing is, we'd need talented leaders to lead those guilds, such a thing is tough to find...You, Masaru, and I stepped up to leadership roles out of absolute desperation...none of us are natural leaders..." Solaris says quietly.

"Solaris, Kirito, Masaru, let's try not to worry about it for now, Let's just open the door to floor 26 and worry about it later" Elena says.

"Elena...you're right, let's go" Kirito says then goes to open the door to floor 26.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [15:00] February 12th 2023

Location: [Floor 26: Lindar City]

What remains of the raid group for the 25th floor opens the warp portal inside Lindar and quickly goes to the corners to prevent being trampled by the influx of incoming players.

What surprises Solaris and her comrades the most is an organized march from five groups.

"Solaris, I'm glad you guys defeated the 25th floor boss but... looking at your numbers...I assume that?" Amaterasu asks noticing that only six people survived out of 40.

"Yeah, we got bad intel on that boss, which led to Kibaou and 33 of our best perishing as a result. As much as I hate to admit it...having only three...untrained field leaders with no guilds backing us up is no longer an option, things are just getting too dangerous now." Solaris says sadly.

"That's no longer a problem, Heathcliff, myself and a few others held a meeting in the city on floor 25. We have just now formed guilds to assist you all in clearing the dungeons." Amaterasu says.

"I have formed 'The Knights of the Blood Oath' and with my colleague Nanak, who has formed the guild: 'Divine Dragon Alliance', we will be handling dungeon clearing alongside Klein's Fuurinkazan that he formed before this event. Keita's Black Cats of the Full Moon has stepped up to handle administrating our dungeon clearing and investigation efforts, with Amaterasu's Silver Valkyrie guild providing combat support by maintaining and creating our equipment." Heathcliff says.

"That's...wonderful, but there's still the problem of information, how will that be handled?" Solaris says with a sigh of relief, with guilds helping, things will go much more smoothly.

"Until we find an ally willing to do such a thing, the Black Cats will be overseeing our new intelligence gathering cells." Amaterasu says.

"Solaris, I want your team to take a few days off, you've been working non-stop." Heathcliff says calmly.

"Thank you Heathcliff, we are a little exhausted, Ulrich is the most exhausted of us all actually" Solaris says.

"Now that you mention it Solaris; Ulrich, how are you more exhausted than us?" Elena asks Ulrich quietly, not wanting the others to overhear.

"I'm...not sure...It may be related to how I entered this world, remember how I was in pain during the test on floor 24?" Ulrich says quietly to Elena, trying to figure out the missing parts of the puzzle.

"Either way, you're all dismissed for two days, take this time to rest, you'll need it" Heathcliff says calmly.

"Thank you sir" Solaris says with a bow.

Solaris' team departs to enjoy the R&R that was granted to them by the new clearing guilds.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [8:00] June 12th 2023

Location: [Floor 39 – Kobata]

The clearers have been heavily motivated under the direction of the clearer guilds: Knights of the Blood Oath, Divine Dragon Alliance, Fuurinkazan, and Black Cats of the Full Moon, with the Silver Valkyrie providing and maintaining new equipment with every new floor that's cleared. With the new leadership being led by the leaders: Solaris, Heathcliff, Amaterasu, Nanak, and Keita, the clearers have been inspired to unimaginable levels to the point where casualties have become uncommon. All of the clearers have been reorganized into various cells with Solaris' cell of five becoming one of the most recognized. Masaru, Ulrich, and Karen have become the warriors for this cell with Amaterasu overseeing the outfitting of the cell's armaments and Solaris leading the cell in concert with others.

Ulrich has become an icon of the clearers alongside Masaru, Kirito, and Asuna, who are always fighting in the front line squads to keep morale high, with Solaris becoming one of the top three most important people in Aincrad. The guild leaders and top warriors: Heathcliff, Nanak, Amaterasu, Keita, Kirito, Asuna, Masaru, Solaris, Ulrich, and Elena are attending a meeting to discuss a strategy to take down this floor's boss.

"Ulrich, everyone, you know our current mission objective right?" Keita asks.

"Yeah, we've done our reconnaissance, and we're preparing a team to take out the boss for this floor." Ulrich says calmly.

"Correct, ordinarily, we would've done this a few days ago, but so many of our frontliners were sick, we just didn't have the capability to do so. However, we have the strength today to pull it off." Solaris says.

"Solaris, do you know how that exactly happened? It's been bothering me for a while now, especially since I was one of the people who got sick" Masaru asks with a mild grumble.

"If I were to guess, it's because of the changing season outside Aincrad, our real bodies must've caught illness, that's probably why so many of us were sick" Solaris says calmly.

"Right...it's hard to believe that we didn't spend our entire lives here sometimes..." Elena says quietly.

"Elena, I noticed you were among the first who got sick, are you going to be okay fighting the boss?" Solaris asks in concern.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, my constitution's relatively weak, but I'm a quick healer, I've never been sick with illness more than two days." Elena says trying to encourage the others in the meeting.

"Okay, if we can get back to the topic, we need to think of a strategy to take down this boss. Solaris, I trust you've thought of something?" Keita asks rather seriously.

"Let me think...this floor's boss is called Ilau the Minotaur, Ilau doesn't have any AoE skills except for when he slams the ground with his axe. Let's divide into two teams to take on this boss, a defensive team and an assault team." Solaris says, pondering her thoughts.

"My guild will assume the role in the assault team, with the assistance of any freelancers wishing to join, I trust your guild will handle the defense Heathcliff?" Nanak says seriously.

"I'm sure that no one in the Knights would object, they'll have a very important role in the fight." Heathcliff says calmly.

"If that's everything, let's depart to the dungeon, Solaris, I want your specialized cell to take the vanguard." Keita says.

"Understood, when will the rest of our raid group arrive? We don't want to risk staying too long" Solaris says seriously.

"I want your cell to enter the dungeon at 10:00, the rest of the raid group will enter the dungeon at 10:30, is that acceptable?" Heathcliff asks calmly.

"Yes sir, we'll begin our preparations immediately" Solaris says seriously.

Solaris' team departs the meeting ground and go into town to stock up on supplies. When they enter Kobata, they split ways to do their respective shopping, with Ulrich merely going to the town square to relax since he's already did his shopping before the meeting started.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:30] June 12th 2023

Location: [Floor 39 – Kobata Town Square]

Elena finally regroups with Ulrich, Masaru, and Solaris in the square, with Masaru and Solaris finishing at 9:00 and spending ten minutes trying to find Ulrich laying down on the grass.

"Okay, now that we're all back, let's get going, we have an hour until the raid group enters the dungeon, Keita wants us in the vanguard position." Solaris says.

"Got it, let's go" Ulrich says calmly while getting up with a half front-flip.

The group departs to reach the dungeon for this floor ahead of the main force.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [11:00] June 12th 2023

Location: [Outside Floor 39 Dungeon Boss Chamber]

The raid group of twenty has rendezvoused with Solaris' team and are outside the boss chamber, awaiting orders from the leader assigned to this run: Solaris.

"I will not lie to you everyone...our information on this boss is still sketchy, just like what happened on floor 25. But we are much stronger than we were then. We have already overcome many trials making it this far. Just follow my plan and we will succeed no matter what!" Solaris says with mixed feelings, and pride at the end.

The boss fight against IIau the Minotaur goes smoothly until the boss suddenly changes strategy from using his battle axe to a large sword resembling a Zanbato and quickly wipes out half of the raid group in one fell swoop, which makes the group terrified, but quickly regain their composure and slay the boss.

"Ugh...I did not see that coming...we were only prepared for the battle-axe strategy...Everyone, you know what to do! Change formation!" Solaris says with regret, but proudly when issuing new orders.

The raid group has begun spreading out to perform more effective hit and run formations with the Knights of the Blood Oath taking the role of the tanks, with the Divine Dragon Alliance and the freelancers being the ones to deal damage to this boss, and surprisingly, there were two people who laid the final blow on Ilau: Solaris and Masaru, with the system deciding to award them both with Last Attack Bonus rare items. Masaru received a full set of armor called Elven Lava, with Solaris receiving a necklace called Howling Crown, specifically designed for her, it significantly enhances the power of her Sleuth unique skill and greatly lowers the risks to the skill, which they both equip in a heartbeat.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:30] June 12th 2023

Location: [Floor 39 Dungeon Boss Chamber]

Ilau has been slain but half of the most elite of the clearers at the current time have been annihilated. Ulrich, Masaru, Kirito, Solaris, and Elena are among the survivors, with Ulrich crouches down to perform his burial rite tradition; with Masaru and the other survivors of the fight resting a short while.

"Solaris, I thought floor 25 was bad enough, but we seriously need to stop fighting bosses when our information is sketchy...we can't afford the losses. And why is your Sleuth skill failing us when it matters most?!" Masaru says with mild anger, and inspecting his new armor a little.

"We didn't have a choice Masaru, our information gatherers were grasping at straws this time around, they're not specialists at the field. And Masaru...my Sleuth skill is not perfect...you know that it can fail." Solaris says sadly, knowing she has no excuse, praying her new necklace will help things in the future.

"How are we going to handle this situation now? It's clear we need an investigation guild handling this. Could we try asking the Black Cats or Golden Apple to handle it?" Elena asks, trying to think of a solution.

"The Black Cats were assigned by Heathcliff to handle administrating the frontliners and Golden Apple's too small to handle investigating. We can't ask them." Kirito says nonchalantly.

"What about Fuurinkazan?" Solaris asks, trying thinking of solutions.

"There's no way Klein would allow himself to be forced to do reconnaissance. We need a large guild handling this kind of thing now..." Kirito says sadly.

"What about the ALF?" Solaris asks, nearly given up on trying to thinking of a solution.

"There's no way the ALF would help us, they've withdrawn all support after their 'top agent' was killed on floor 25, besides I doubt those jackasses would even WANT to help us" Masaru says angrily, since he despises the Aincrad Liberation Force, and referring to Kibaou.

"Masaru, that's pushing it too far, what's your damn problem with the ALF?" Solaris asks angrily.

"You really want to know why I hate that damn guild? They're conceited, they refused to help us clearers when it mattered the most." Masaru says angrily.

"Masaru, you need to face reality, our numbers are stretched thin trying to clear the dungeons, we need the ALF's numbers here" Kirito says calmly.

Masaru looks around and sees that Solaris and Kirito are clearly against him in this line of thinking.

"I see I'm not going to win this...but I will not trust the ALF, I will not..." Masaru says in defeat but angrily as well.

"Ulrich, what's your thoughts on the matter?" Solaris asks, looking toward him, who is close to the group, apparently, he finished his burial rites.

"I don't know a whole lot about the Aincrad Liberation Force, so I can't give fair judgement, you're the strategist Solaris, you make the background decisions, I'll just slay anything in my way." Ulrich says quietly.

"Let's discuss our options with Heathcliff and the others then" Solaris says.

The group opens the way to floor 40 for the clearing to recommence.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:45] June 12th 2023

Location: [Floor 40]

What remains of Solaris' elite team have opened the portal to floor 40 and the guild leaders arrive followed by their officers.

"Congratulations and excellent job as always Solaris, you've truly become one of the greatest icons for the clearers." Amaterasu says happily.

"Thank you Amaterasu, but we got bad information on that floor, just like floor 25, everyone, we need a new information gathering source." Solaris says seriously.

"We were fearful of that happening, so we contacted Thinker, he has agreed to lend the assistance of his guild: The Aincrad Liberation Force, with a condition that Silver Valkyrie jumped in joy over." Keita says.

"What condition was that?" Masaru asks in surprise.

"Before now, Silver Valkyrie was working with short-term contracts, but with the ALF joining the clearers, Silver Valkyrie is being requested to become the sole supplier of items and equipment for all clearers on a permanent basis. With this official recognition, a lot of the player merchants are either joining my guild, or becoming freelance associates." Amaterasu says happily.

"Wow, that's incredible Amaterasu, congratulations on gaining such prestige. I presume we now have the ALF's full support?" Solaris asks, not able to believe what just happened.

"Correct, the ALF's combat and reconnaissance units will be arriving any minute now to begin their new duty of scouting." Heathcliff says calmly.

"Hang on...I thought their M.O. was dealing with criminals, what happened to that?" Masaru asks in doubt.

"The largest criminal guild that was leading them: Laughing Coffin, has been disbanded by the ALF, and with all criminal activity now gone, they are now providing all of their strength to assist us." Keita says.

As they speak, many units of the ALF arrive through the portal and quickly begin their reconnaissance of floor 40, with Thinker and his royal guard approaching Solaris and the others.

"Greetings everyone, I am pleased to say that with all criminal activity gone and the uprising within my guild now stopped, we are now providing all of our resources to assist the clearers." Thinker says nonchalantly.

"We are thankful for your assistance Thinker, your ALF guild is exactly what we need. I request the use of your ALF to handle all reconnaissance from this day onward, while the Knights of the Blood Oath, Divine Dragon Alliance, and Fuurinkazan handle the bosses." Solaris says professionally.

"You'll have that no problem, my members are strictly disciplined to military levels, they will have no problems working reconnaissance, and Solaris, I would like to formally extend an offer of joining my guild, you'd be made our top military colonel, we've all heard of your excellent achievements, that is something we must protect." Thinker says seriously.

"As much as I'd like to accept Thinker...I'll have to turn you down on that offer, my team here...they'd fall apart without me, and besides, they've started to grow on me." Solaris says calmly.

"As you wish, I will not push the issue, if you wish to stay with your cell, you may do so." Thinker says nonchalantly.

"Anyway, with this new reprieve we've been granted, the clearer guilds can take a short rest while the ALF do their reconnaissance. Solaris, after such an intense battle, I imagine you must all be exhausted." Amaterasu says calmly.

"We have been pushing our limits rather consistently, a rest would very nice right now." Solaris says laughingly in defeat.

* * *

A/N: Blade Dancer's appearance is similar in shape of Black Lotus from Accel World but with a more organic design with all tan colors.


	6. Chapter 4: Calm before the Storm

After 3 years of being in Aincrad, things are going very smoothly, but slowly. Estimates among the top 10 clearers is that the game will be cleared by the end of the year, but will it be that simple?

Rated: AU Fiction T

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Credit goes to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works._

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: March 1st to March 7th 2025

Location: [Floor 47 – Floria]

Ulrich is drifting through various floors trying to relieve stress from fighting consistently on the frontlines, with Floria being his third stop, after doing some general shopping on floor 50's main city: Algade which included food ingredients, potions, and crystals.

He stopped by Lindus on floor 48 a day later, and he ended up shopping for weapons and armor from a smith known as Lizbeth, where he requested a forging with crystalite ingots he acquired after slaying a crystal dragon with assistance from some of his friends, and when the ingots were used to create a katana, it resulted in a very rare blade with a unique quality of switching between silver, gold, and black colors, and each one of these different colors come with a different name: Kingetsuga (Gold), Gingetsuga (Silver), and Kurogetsuga (Black), though Ulrich just calls it Getsuga for simplicity's sake, the weapons all have a guard resembling a crescent moon.

He also decides to buy some clothing from a renowned tailor known as Ashley, where he provided leather from 3 slain crystal dragons, which resulted in her creating outfit stronger than heavy steel platemail yet surprisingly light like leather, suiting his combat style of fast, yet lethal attacks. Ulrich was not alone during this time of respite, traveling through the various floors. He was accompanied by his closest friends: Masaru, Solaris, and Elena, as they too were feeling the stress of all the fighting, as the frontlines have been stuck at a stalemate at the 75th floor for nearly three months because of the inability to get lasting information on that floor's boss.

Even with all of the talented fighters like Klein, Kirito, Heathcliff, and Asuna fighting with all of their strength to clear the game, alongside all of the other clearers, which includes the guild: Aincrad Liberation Force providing reconnaissance on the dungeons on behalf of the guilds: Knights of the Blood Oath, Divine Dragon Alliance, Fuurinkazan and the Black Cats of the Full Moon, they just cannot defeat the boss of this floor.

The ALF have been particularly helpful because over 85% of their members are over level 70 and have army standard organization and unity, which increases the effectiveness in their scouting teams. They also have the most players of any guild in the game, which is roughly 3000 members which is half of the players still alive in the game, so they are more than able to take casualties and not suffer tragic repercussions, however, they themselves are reluctant to fight bosses, as their levels are nothing compared to KoB, DDA, Fuurinkazan and the other guilds, who have the most talented warriors in the entire game, they established themselves in the role of reconnaissance on floor 40, after successfully imprisoning/eliminating all of the PKers, particularly the notorious guild: Laughing Coffin, which was created at floor 27, though they are ashamed to admit that five of the top officers of Laughing Coffin have escaped though the ALF ensure they will be incapable of causing trouble to the rest of the players.

In the recent month, all clearers have been given two weeks worth of respite to prepare for the final push to eliminate the boss of that floor, with the ALF finally deciding throwing in their immense number of members for direct assistance for this floor. This is why Ulrich and the others are drifting through various floors trying to relax.

"Hey Karen, do you have any idea how successful the upcoming fight will be?" Ulrich asks with concern, considering how three cells have failed to defeat it and were slain.

"I can't really help you there Ulrich, sorry" Karen (Solaris' real name) says sadly, not able to give a positive answer.

"I can understand his fears, alot of people have died fighting this boss and we still haven't progressed, it's like a repeat of floor one all over again..." Katsuo (Masaru's real name) says.

"Come on guys, this is a vacation for us, let's not think about our work, we ought to be relaxing" Sylvia (Elena's real name) says trying to lighten the tense atmosphere in the group.

"Sylvia has a point you guys, we need to use this time to relax, though...things are going a little too slowly, it took us three years to clear 75 floors, and with the monsters growing more and more powerful with every floor...how long will it take us to clear this game?" Ulrich asks with a bit of unintended arrogance, since he first appeared at floor 24, unlike everyone else who started at floor one.

"Ever the realist I see..." Katsuo says with a small sigh.

"You can hardly complain Katsuo, you were the same way in the beginning" Karen says with a few laughs, reminiscing on the old days.

"Karen, you really know how to irritate people" Katsuo says quietly and with a sigh. "Actually...when did we start calling each other by our real names?" Katsuo asks curiously, having forgotten somewhat.

"It's a gift" Karen says while laughing, she's treating this statement as a bit of a joke. "And I think it was when we made it to Algade on floor 50. I think I was the one who asked for our real names, after all, we spent so much time together fighting on the frontlines and we didn't even know who we truly were in reality. I do know that after we did that, our bonds of friendship became like quadruple reinforced titanium, it was unbreakable." Karen says with a small laugh.

"Oh yeah, I remember now, and geez, I remember when I lived in Algade...WORST decision ever! It always took me two days for me to find the house I bought there." Ulrich says angrily, before remembering the plan he set up with Karen. "Karen, we should continue our travels, we do have a schedule to keep." Ulrich says.

"You're right, let's get going" Karen says.

* * *

Ulrich and the others finish their conversation and walk towards the city square of Floria to set up a little area to eat a bento made by everyone, though in Ulrich's case, Sylvia took care of his share alongside her own since Ulrich is no good at cooking, even with three years of practicing.

"Hey Katsuo, why didn't you bring Kazuto and Kana? I'd expect that they'd want to join in, particularly Kana, cause aren't you two married in this game?" Karen asks, out of mere curiosity.

"Kazuto is hanging out with Keita, Sachi, Andrew, and Tsuboi, while Kana's enjoying her time off with Asuna, Keiko, Rika, and Yui" Katsuo says rather informally, knowing the real names of alot of his close friends, particularly among Kazuto's famously short list.

"I see, so Kazuto's hanging out with his friends and the Black Cats, while Kana's hanging with her girl friends." Sylvia says with a small laugh.

"More or less, I'd say Kana's group is hanging out at Asuna's house in Salemburg, and Kazuto's group...I got no clue, he's crazy mysterious" Katsuo says.

"Ulrich, I'm a little curious as to why you want us traveling through all these floors" Karen asks, trying to figure out his intent.

"No reason actually, I wanted to visit the lower floors a little, try to inspect the beauty of it all" Ulrich says.

"Really, inspecting beauty? You're the last person I expected to hear that from" Karen says in utter and complete shock.

"I've been here three years and all I did was fight, this is the first time I took time to...relax...the way that's considered normal" Ulrich says, trying to think of a word to say near the end.

"I see, you live a difficult life Ulrich, did you act like this in your old world?" Katsuo asks.

"I...don't remember...I forgot nearly everything about my old world around the time of floor 45, by now...everything's a complete blank" Ulrich says quietly.

"I'm sorry to hear that Ulrich, when this game is cleared and if you return to your world, won't there be issues with your friends and family? Since you can't seem to remember anything?" Sylvia asks in concern.

"I wouldn't know, I know that my mind and body both exist in this world, so...I may end up stuck in this world forever" Ulrich says.

This conversation is quickly taking a turn for the worst, so Karen decides to try bringing up a more positive note.

"Ulrich, do you think you'd be able to come to our world? We do have the capability to upload minds to technology to a limited extent, you could live with us" Karen says.

"If it can be done, I'd be okay with it, but I'd be fearful of what would happen to my body here, I'm not an AI like Yui" Ulrich says.

"I see, you'd still be trapped in this world in a way, even if we uploaded your mind to a computer or something, your body would still exist here." Karen says, understanding the true extent of Ulrich's problem now.

"This may sound cruel but, do you think it could possible to upload Ulrich's mind to one of the deceased players? There'd obviously be a problem with the family of the person and challenge for you to adjust, but would that be an option?" Katsuo asks, trying to find a solution for his friend to exist in the reality of this dimension.

"Katsuo, even if we had the technology, there are too many ethical concerns involving that plan, invading and taking over the mind of someone long since dead would terrify too many people" Sylvia says sadly, trying her best not to shoot down Katsuo's optimism to help his friend.

"I wouldn't want to enter your world that way; even if you have to make the body robotic, I want a body of my own to live in, not just...hijacked from someone already living in that world." Ulrich says rather seriously.

"We can certainly make that happen, our society has gotten rather adept in constructing robotic mechs, we could certainly make one you could connect your mind to, and even model it after your body, if you so desire" Karen says seriously but with a little bit of humor hidden underneath it.

"I'd...appreciate it, and I'm surprised you all would go to such lengths for someone you know only through a game" Ulrich says, proud that he has such dedicated friends.

"Ulrich, in our group of friends, aside from Katsuo and Kana, we have never met in real life, but this is who we really are, and we've spent three years here fighting side by side, we are friends, no matter what" Sylvia says seriously.

"That is true, we did forge unbreakable bonds of friendship in the face of almost certain death and survive" Katsuo says with a small grin.

"That is true I suppose" Ulrich says laughingly.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:30] March 7th 2025

Location: [Floor 47 – Floria City Square]

They are approached by Kazuto's and Kana's groups not long after they finish eating.

"Well well well, I figured we'd find you here" Asuna says with a few laughs.

"Kazuto, everyone, what are you doing here?" Karen asks in surprise.

"I heard from Argo that you all were down here, so we decided to come join you all. We also brought a message from Heathcliff." Kazuto says calmly.

"Gee...thanks very much for crashing our party...anyway, what's the message?" Karen says angrily and asks in a casual tone.

"We are to resume clearing duties immediately, we've gathered new intelligence on the boss, and Heathcliff is forming a special team to fight that boss. Aside from Kana and Andrew, we've all been selected to fight that boss." Asuna says.

"So we've been selected to fight the Skull Reaper? Is that wise?" Karen asks in concern.

"How many members are going to be in this special team? Aside from us?" Ulrich asks.

"We're preparing a team of sixty, half of the Knights and a little over half of the Dragon Alliance is coming with us." Kazuto says.

"I see, anyway, if you wouldn't mind, could you all please buzz off? We planned this to be a private meeting between the four of us" Katsuo says mildly angrily.

"Why so hostile Katsuo? We just want to attend your little party" Kazuto says with small sneering.

"Just leave already, like I said, this is a private meeting" Katsuo says in the same tone.

"Okay, okay, we get your point, we'll leave" Kazuto says, not scared of Katsuo, doing this solely to humor him.

Kazuto and the others depart to leave Katsuo and the others in peace. Karen and Sylvia stare at Katsuo lightly trying to get an explanation.

* * *

"Why are you all staring at me?" Katsuo asks.

"That was kinda harsh Katsuo" Sylvia says relatively coldly.

"I was telling the truth, don't label me as the bad guy here!" Katsuo says in minor shock.

"Still harsh Katsuo" Karen says coldly.

"Leave him be, he was thinking of us when he said all that, everyone" Ulrich says.

"I'm surprised you're the one to back him up Ulrich" Karen says in surprise.

"I'm just as surprised, it is rather hard to believe we were once bitter rivals and now we're like brothers." Katsuo says casually.

"Figures that the brothers of the group would back each other up" Karen says nonchalantly, but with a sigh.

"It's a given, in a trio of sisters, the brothers do need to back each other up atleast on occasion" Katsuo says optimistically.

"Anyway, since we finished our lunch, we ought to return to floor 75. If Heathcliff requested this, it must be legit." Sylvia says, in a sad tone.

Ulrich and his group reluctantly Floria and depart to Collinia, at the request of Heathcliff.


	7. Chapter 5: Beginning of the End

The Skull Reaper has been slain and the frontlines have been restored. However, the peaceful lives the players have lived are going to be destroyed by a new discovery. All of the players very quickly learn the dangers of complacency as the discovery catches them all off-guard and wrecks havoc across the relatively peaceful world of Aincrad.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00] March 7th 2025

Location: [Floor 74 – Collinia]

Ulrich's team arrive in Collinia where they find Kazuto, Asuna, Heathcliff, and the rest of the special ops team that was mentioned back at Floria gathered in the town square apparently waiting for Ulrich and his team to arrive.

"Excellent, now that our last team has arrived, we shall begin the debriefing for taking down this floor's boss: The Skull Reaper. Thanks to the ALF, we have gathered new information on this abomination. We have concluded that no regular raid group will be sufficient for this boss, thus, I have summoned all sixty of you to get your assistance." Heathcliff says calmly.

"Kazuto, did the ALF actually get new info on the Skull Reaper?" Ulrich whispers.

"If Heathcliff said so, then they must have" Kazuto says calmly.

"If everyone's ready, let's depart. Corridor Crystal, open!" Heathcliff says calmly.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:10] March 7th 2025

Location: [Floor 74 – Boss Chamber Exterior]

The special ops team formed by Heathcliff have assembled outside the boss chamber and are receiving a strategy update from Solaris.

"Everyone, this will be our greatest challenge we have ever experienced in Aincrad, however, we are the best of the best, if we all work together, there is no challenge we cannot overcome!" Heathcliff says very charismatically.

The clearers get very inspired by Heathcliff's speech and after Heathcliff opens the door, they all rush inside but form a circle around the edges of the room with Ulrich and his friends: Masaru, Elena, Kazuto, and Asuna going toward the center with the Knights of the Blood Oath slowly to anticipate the location of the boss. A minute passes and the boss still hasn't appeared which is quickly beginning to annoy the raid group

"Where is the boss?!" "Was it defeated already?" "Impossible, the door wouldn't have shut behind us if that was the case" The various players in the group say at once.

"This is too suspicious...wait...above us!" Ulrich says quietly but shouts after looking up, after hearing a suspicious clicking noise from somewhere and sees a large monster above them.

"The boss is above us! Knights! Scatter!" Katsuo shouts after looking up.

Ulrich, his friends and the Knights quickly scatter as the boss: The Skull Reaper comes crashing down. When the Skull Reaper arrives, it quickly begins to glide toward Solaris who is paralyzed by both fear and her using Sleuth to analyze the monster.

"Solaris, get back, we can't afford losing you!" Karen's guards say.

Karen is able to regain some composure and is helped by Masaru to get away, but she witnesses her entire royal guard of four being slain one single hit, which makes her lose the little composure she was able to muster.

"How-How is that possible?! They died in a single hit!" Karen says in fear.

"Everyone, change of plans! The Knights will concentrate on preventing that monster from moving and attacking, everyone else, attack it from the rear!" Heathcliff says angrily. "Solaris, I saw you use Sleuth, what did you find out about this boss?" Heathcliff says in the same tone.

"Let me remember...It's called 'The Skull Reaper', It's much faster than Blade Dancer, We need to make an impenetrable wall on all sides!" Karen says in fear.

Heathcliff and his Knights of the Blood Oath then reorganize their formation and goal to buying time for the rest of the special ops team to slay the Skull Reaper.

The real battle against the Skull Reaper begins at this point, with Heathcliff, Kirito, Asuna, and the Knights of the Blood Oath guild that was assembled providing cover for the rest of the players to attack the Skull Reaper. Masaru, Ulrich, Sylvia are the ones taking the lead and inflicting the most damage to this boss though Ulrich is quickly taking damage against this boss because of the spike like appendages of this centipede-like Skull Reaper, but thankfully not before executing his triplicate skill and receiving full healing using one of his crystals, healing all three clones since they all are technically him. With Ulrich now having three clones active, all three clones quickly begin work with the players to defeat the Skull Reaper. The fight is draining the energy of everyone in this special ops team however, and mistakes are being made, with every mistake resulting in atleast one death. When the Skull Reaper is down to a third of its max health, its second form activated which caused all the spike appendages to grow much larger, resembling blades now, razor sharp blades all over its body which will make it difficult to attack this thing now the way the front-liners have been before now. Ulrich knows he won't be able to use Triplicate or Triangulate successfully on this boss now considering the size of the boss, so he tries to cooperate as much as possible with the other clearers.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00] March 7th 2025

The Skull Reaper has been successfully slain but at the cost of roughly a third of the special ops team. Every member of the group is scattered around the room heavily exhausted from the battle. Ulrich is in a far corner of the room being treated by Karen and Sylvia because of the fact he took a few hits from the Skull Reaper and he's just generally exhausted because of the drawn out battle.

With every player in the raid group badly exhausted, Heathcliff slowly walks toward the door to floor 76 and opens it then returns to his raid group and takes a short rest.

The raid group has finally recovered from their fatigue after a half hour passes and proceeds to floor 76, with Ulrich and his friends still exhausted and taking a little more time to lick their wounds.

* * *

Location: [Floor 76 – Arksophia]

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:40] March 7th 2025

When Ulrich's group arrive at the main city: Arksophia, they find Heathcliff and the raid group from floor 75 in the main square with the other guilds assembled, apparently to attend a meeting. Asuna, Andrew, Tsuboi, Rika, Keiko, Sylvia, Keita and Sachi depart to other areas of the crowd, leaving Ulrich, Kazuto, Karen, and Kana in the main group

"Kazuto, did Heathcliff mention that he was going to be holding a meeting?" Ulrich whispers.

"Not really" Kazuto whispers.

"If Heathcliff himself called an assembly, it must be important" Karen says, trying to convince herself, while having her doubts.

"Karen, you were close to getting hit a few times against the Skull Reaper. Are you doing alright?" Ulrich asks in concern since, aside from Sylvia and Katsuo, Karen is Ulrich's closest friend in Aincrad.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, it's just that I'm not as wholly confident that the game can be cleared easily than I was back then. Thanks for worrying about me though Ulrich" Karen says, finding it a little challenging to find her words.

"Attention everyone, I welcome you to Arksophia, I know that the frontlines have been paralyzed because of floor 75's boss. But that is no longer an issue because of the fact that boss has been slain" Heathcliff says very charismatically.

The clearers cheer in heavy response, except the ones who actually participated in that battle because of how terrifying it was and the large amount of casualties inflicted in that battle. Heathcliff knows that the clearers have been pushed to their absolute limits lately so he dismisses the meeting relatively quickly after he mentions that he is extending the vacation time for the clearers. The crowd begins breaking up and leaving very optimistically, when Heathcliff approaches Ulrich, Karen, Kazuto, and Kana.

"Ulrich, Kirito, Solaris, I was hoping to see you all here, I needed to talk to you" Heathcliff says.

"What did you need to ask us Heathcliff?" Karen asks.

"I apologize for forcing this on you but...Thinker has told me that they are investigating reports of something unusual happening all over the first fifteen floors, they will not be able to provide reconnaissance on this floor, so I am forming a team to handle that. Ulrich, Kirito, Solaris, I wish for you to recruit Asuna and Masaru and explore this floor." Heathcliff says calmly.

"You want us exploring this floor? Is that wise?" Karen asks in mild shock.

"We have little other option, the ALF told us that they will not be able to help us with doing reconnaissance on this floor" Heathcliff says with relative sadness.

"Understood...We will proceed immediately" Karen says sadly.

Ulrich, Kazuto, and Karen depart to find Katsuo and Asuna so they can begin the reconnaissance, with Kana, Sylvia, and the others returning to Grandum to prepare for the upcoming dungeon run, though the duo met up with Kazuto and the others in the city square before departing.

"Kana, Sylvia, we'll need to part ways for now. Heathcliff requested us five to survey this floor in the place of the ALF." Karen says sadly, it's rare for this team to be separated.

"Take care of yourselves while we're away, especially you Katsuo." Kana says laughingly.

"Geez Kana, quit treating me like a child..." Katsuo says pouting somewhat.

"You don't like it Katsuo?" Kana asks with puppy dog eyes, turning her head slightly, pulling off an excellent moe voice.

"...Don't do this to me Kana...you know it's a pain in the ass to resist..." Katsuo says sadly.

"Know it, and love it" Kana says laughingly.

"Karen, Ulrich, Katsuo, Kazuto, Asuna, be careful, you all have no idea what's outside this city." Sylvia says worriedly.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine, we're the best of the best, there's no way we'll fail" Karen says laughingly, before departing with her team.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00] March 10th 2025

Location: [Floor 76 – Imozaka]

Ulrich's recon team has been exploring the 76th floor for a few days and found that this floor is very small, with most of the landmarks being reachable within a day's time from Arksophia, and may have already discovered where the dungeon is for this floor because of their extensive scouting near the village of Imozaka, near the northwestern edge of floor 76.

"If what I heard is true, then we can begin getting this floor out of the way" Kazuto says rather happily.

"Kirito-kun, it's only a rumor right now, don't get so excited" Asuna says with a sigh.

"She has a point Kazuto, rumors are different from facts in many ways" Ulrich says in a proud tone, seemingly glad that he shot down some of 'The Black Swordsman's' ego.

"Ulrich...Asuna...that hurts, Katsuo, back me up here" Kazuto says trying to keep what's left of his pride.

"I'm staying out of this, keep this affair between you three, right Karen?" Katsuo says, trying to keep himself out of the situation.

"Yeah, we're smart enough to keep ourselves out of these situations, besides, you had it coming Kazuto" Karen says.

Kazuto sighs in defeat, feeling betrayed by some of his closest friends.

"I wonder how the others are doing? Heathcliff assured us that we're the only players on this floor aside from merchants in Arksophia." Karen says while wondering about her fellow clearers.

"They're enjoying their vacation more while we're being forced to work. They're most likely in better spirits than us" Katsuo says with mild anger.

"Oh yeah...they're still relaxing and we're not..." Asuna says sadly, remembering what Heathcliff said at the meeting.

"Come on guys, we ought to chase down that rumor and see how useful it is to reach the dungeon. To be honest, now I know how the ALF feels while doing reconnaissance, then again, they do have atleast a thousand members doing this with their combat units close by for support." Ulrich says with a small sigh.

The group begin following the rumor which is that the nearby forest is the entrance to the hidden dungeon. They reach the edge of Imozaka after replenishing their supply of crystals and potions and begin their trek through the forest.

Surprisingly, the monsters in the forest appear to be rather docile, which make the journey more enjoyable and safer compared to their consistent treks through monster infested regions.

"If this is the way to the dungeon, it'll be a total cakewalk for us clearers, none of the monsters here appear willing to fight us. In fact, very few monsters on this floor seem hostile." Karen says rather proudly.

"You have to admit that's a little bizarre, you would hardly expect monsters to be docile this high up Aincrad." Ulrich says.

"Now that you mention it, it is bizarre, but maybe it was designed this way, after all, after floors 25 and 50, the monsters were relatively weak, maybe the game was designed to have the toughest challenge at floors 25, 50, and 75 and have the next few after easy to recover from the shock." Asuna says logically.

"Perhaps, but come on everyone, let's get going. We need to find the dungeon." Katsuo says calmly.


	8. Chapter 6: Cataclysm

After around three years of the same old thing, all hell breaks loose with the advent of new monsters seemingly capable of breaking every law Cardinal has carefully created to ensure balance between the monsters and the players. Will Ulrich and his friends be able to restore balance and keep the players alive long enough to escape this world? Complacency is one of the greatest blunders the players have been taking advantage of because of the smooth progression of the dungeon clearing. This complacency results in the demise of a large number of ALF officers which throws things out of whack.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [15:00] March 12th 2025

Location: [Floor 76 – Imozaka]

Ulrich's scouting team have found the hidden dungeon and have returned to Imozaka and find a unit of the ALF's reconnaissance team there, who quickly rush over to them.

"Solaris, I'm glad we were able to find you, we have bad news!" The leader of the unit says in shock.

"What's wrong? I thought the ALF were investigating something on floors one through fifteen, why are you here?" Karen asks in surprise.

"First of all, we brought some players who claim they know Ulrich, and second...we've lost a few of our units to a new wave of monsters" The unit leader says in shock.

"Who are these people who claim they know Ulrich and...how did you lose people on the early floors, you all should easily be able to overpower anything down there!" Katsuo says in surprise.

"The group is right behind us actually, and the monsters...they're not native to the landscapes of the first fifteen floors..." The leader says unable to believe what he's saying.

The group steps out from behind the ALF unit and have very exotic appearances. The group of four rush toward Ulrich as they seem to know him, the group consists of a male with blonde hair with purple streaks down the center also with small visible cat ears hidden in his hair, a female with black hair resembling a geisha, a female player with pink hair resembling an elf, and a male with dark blue hair with a massive Zweihander sword visible on his back.

"Ulrich, it's been so long, I thought you were dead" The female player with black hair says in a worried tone.

"...Do I know you all?" Ulrich asks in confusion.

"Ulrich, do you not remember us?" The pink haired player asks confused.

"...Ulrich, do you know these people?" Karen asks, very confused.

"Who are you all? How do you know Ulrich?" The feline appearing person says relatively aggressively.

"I could ask you the same question, who are you people?" Katsuo asks angrily.

Katsuo is getting very close to getting into a fight with this feline player, until the pink haired player from the group breaks it up.

"Calm down everyone, let's explain ourselves. My name is Aelita, my companions here are: Odd, Yumi, and William. We actually were sent to get Ulrich and return him to our world." Aelita says while gesturing toward her companions when she mentions them.

"Ulrich, does any of this ring any bells for you?" Kazuto asks.

"...Not really...but the names do sound familiar somehow..." Ulrich says quietly.

"Okay look, Aelita, all of you, if you want us to believe you, give us information, specifically on how you got here and how you know Ulrich" Karen says logically.

"I don't remember every detail since it was around three years ago but, Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were going to a virtual world called Lyoko to help me with a mission, but Ulrich's transfer coordinates were changed at the last second and he left our world." Aelita says calmly.

"Three years, that's about the same time you arrived in this world Ulrich, I remember you just suddenly appeared in the Forest of Doubt on floor 24, no one had even made it far at the time. We presumed you were a monster and tried to kill you, we only stopped when your stomach was rumbling like starving tigers." Karen says calmly, and beginning to laugh near the end.

"Oh yeah...that was a chaotic time" Ulrich says laughingly.

"Ulrich, we came to bring you back, with XANA gone, we're enjoying a time of peace." Yumi says.

"Look...Yumi...even if I wanted to return, it'd take too long for me to readjust, I'm happier here also." Ulrich says.

"Ulrich, you want to stay here and not return to your friends and family? We really want you back" Odd says sadly.

"You heard what I said, I've been through thick and thin with my friends here. I refuse to leave them behind." Ulrich says mildly aggressively.

"You certainly seem determined. Yumi, Odd, Aelita, I say we try working on this gradually, if I were in Ulrich's shoes, I'd be pissed if I was forced to leave friends I've been with for years." William says charismatically.

"Exactly, I've been close friends with Solaris, Masaru, Elena, and the others here for over two years. I'd rather die than be separated from them." Ulrich says seriously.

"Everyone, let's put aside these introductions for now, what are these monsters you were talking about?" Asuna asks in a serious tone in the direction of the ALF unit and Aelita's group.

"I can't even describe it, but their appearance is bug-like...giant bug monsters..." The leader of the unit says.

Ulrich meanwhile looks to his right and sees a giant spider like monster seemingly ready to open fire with weapons that on its front legs.

"Everyone, look out!" Ulrich shouts, which causes everyone to look to the right and see the monster.

"That's a Tarantula! Why is one XANA's monsters here?!" Aelita shouts in shock.

The Tarantula begins firing at the group which hits three members of the ALF unit and cause their death from a weapon comparable to a mini-gun, but the others duck and are spared death from this powerful monster...for now.

"They died so quickly! How is that possible?!" Katsuo asks in utter and complete shock.

Ulrich instinctively activates his super-sprint ability to close the gap between him and the monster. He quickly draws his Kurogetsuga katana and jumps to stab the unusual crest resembling an eye on its head armor. The Tarantula undergoes some sort of ticking and explodes into millions of small pixels, thankfully, Ulrich is able to jump back to where Karen and the others are at.

"Woah, how'd you pull that off Ulrich?!" Karen asks in shock.

"I...don't know, it just felt like instinct to me" Ulrich says calmly and in minor shock.

"It was a monster with that kind of appearance that wiped out our combat units on the early floors." One of the surviving ALF unit members says.

"I don't understand...monsters shouldn't be able to attack players in the 'AREA' let alone enter it..." Kazuto says in surprise.

"I don't know how that's possible, but since that thing was able to attack us inside this settlement. We need to inform Heathcliff and the others, we need to send warnings to everyone in Aincrad, the cities are no longer safe." Asuna says seriously.

"Let's hurry to Grandum, all of the clearer guilds aside from the ALF have their headquarters there." Karen says.

"We need to talk with Ulrich, so could we accompany you?" Aelita asks.

"Fine, we'll be safer in Grandum than here." Karen says.

Ulrich and his colleagues use emergency transport crystals to teleport to Grandum to inform Heathcliff of the new situation.

* * *

(Lieutenant Miyake's POV:)

Aincrad Standard Time: [8:00] March 10th 2025

Location: [Floor 6 – Iinoura Village]

The ALF's Third Combat Battalion are surveying floors four through eight, having completed surveying floors one through three. A unit of five are taking a short break in Iinoura Village. This particular unit is labeled 'Lightning Snipers' because of their aptitude of rapid reconnaissance and hit and run tactics, the unit comprises of three male corporals and two female officers: Corporals Satori, Kyushu, and Zeshin, with Sergeant Chikaze and Lieutenant Miyake leading the unit.

"Why are we being forced to investigate this? We should be doing reconnaissance on floor 76. I feel like we're being punished here..." Lieutenant Miyake says.

"Lieutenant, there's nothing we can do about it, we've heard of unusual things happening on the first fifteen floors. We need to investigate." Corporal Satori says.

"I'm aware Corporal, but still..." Miyake says quietly.

"Guys, let's just relax, let's try to make the best of this situation, at this rate, we'll be able to return to duty by the 15th." Chikaze says optimistically.

"You're right Sergeant, alright everyone, we've been resting long enough, let's head to the gate. We've completed our search of floor six, let's rendezvous with the rest of the Third Battalion, we were going to meet on floor eight." Miyake says.

The Lightning Snipers unit departs to reach the gate inside Iinoura Village to meet up with the rest of the Third Combat Battalion. After making it to the gate, Corporals Kyushu and Zeshin suddenly are thrown forward by something and explode into millions of small pixels.

"What the hell?!" Satori shouts in shock.

The remaining three Lightning Snipers rapidly look in different directions and see five giant crab like monsters inside the city.

"What are those things?! They've never been seen on this floor before!" Miyake shouts in shock.

The monsters fire lasers from white eyes in between an armored carapace which nearly hits Miyake, Chikaze, and Satori.

"We need to get out of here! Fall back and get to Friben!" Chikaze shouts.

Satori is gunned down before he's able to enter the proximity of the gate, and explodes into pixels.

"Teleport! Fri-! Chikaze tries to say before getting gunned down and explodes into pixels just like Satori, Kyushu, and Zeshin, leaving only the leader of the unit: Lieutenant Miyake.

"Teleport! Friben!" Miyake successfully says in fear and teleports to Friben Village on floor eight.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00] March 10th 2025

Location: [Floor 8 – Friben Village]

Miyake arrives in Friben and rendezvouses with the rest of the Third Combat Battalion. She is panting heavily which is surprising the group that is assembled at the gate. One of the main leaders of the ALF: Major Morita approaches Lieutenant Miyake and asks.

"Lieutenant Miyake, what happened to you and your unit?" Major Morita asks in concern.

"Major Morita...my men got wiped out from an unidentified group of monsters... I was the only survivor..." Miyake says sadly and panting a little.

"You have my condolences Miyake, what did the monsters look like?" Morita asks.

"It was a giant crab monster, the armaments on those things...I..." Miyake says, in fear of what happened to her unit.

The gate activates and more members of the ALF Third Battalion arrive, with this last group, everyone from the Third Battalion has returned to Friben.

"Okay, that should be everyone, nearly everyone has returned to Headquarters, except for us forty. We were ordered to wait for the battalion to regroup here, then bring them back to Myugen." Major Morita says.

The transport to Myugen goes rather slowly, but out of the forty members in the vicinity, twenty five teleport leaving the rulers of the third battalion where they try to gather information on what Miyake encountered.

"Lieutenant, what details can you recall of the monster that wiped out your unit? Your response will be a major indication of what we'll need to do in the future..." Lieutenant Colonel Cobert asks.

"Well...the monsters looked like giant crabs...it didn't seem organic in nature...it looked like a combination of organic flesh with a mechanical underbelly..." Miyake says a little freaked out, the death of her unit still very much fresh on her mind.

"What other details can you recall?" Morita asks.

"It...Those monsters...I don't know how, but my men...they...died inside the 'AREA' of Iinoura Village..." Miyake says, seemingly reaching the limits of her sanity.

"How is that possible?! Monsters shouldn't be able to enter settlements!" Morita says in surprise.

"I...I don't know Major...I don't think I'm going be able to accomplish my duties right now..." Miyake says quietly.

"I'll speak with Thinker and see if you can get some shore leave." Morita says optimistically.

"Thank you Major..." Miyake says quietly.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:15] March 10th 2025

Location: [Floor 8 – Friben Village]

There are only five people remaining in Friben: Lieutenant Miyake, Sergeant Mamore, Captain Fumio, Major Morita, and Lieutenant Colonel Cobert. Unusual sounds is being heard from a nearby alley which is making the officers uneasy.

"Sergeant, Captain, go investigate, we'll back you up" Morita says.

Mamore and Fumio draw their 2handed sword and katana respectively and slowly approach the alley, with the others staying near the gate, but stay close enough to Mamore and Fumio in case something happens. When Mamore reaches the alley, what appears to be a crab leg performs a clean cut stab and instantly depletes her HP, which makes her explode into pixels, with Fumio falling back in surprise.

The monster steps out from the alley and is apparently not alone. Six monsters resembling giant mechanical crabs steps out from the alley. Miyake is paralyzed from fear because of what those things did to her unit and collapses from her extreme fear.

"That...that monster is what killed my unit...I...I can't..." Miyake says in fear.

"Lieutenant, just stay back! We'll handle this!" Morita says.

Meanwhile, the monsters gun down Captain Fumio repeatedly, which results in his demise. After seeing Fumio die, what's left of Miyake's sanity seems to have utterly vanished as she draws her longsword & shield

"Major! Lieutenant Colonel! Get out of here! You need to notify Thinker!" Miyake shouts while charging at the monsters.

"Lieutenant! Don't sacrifice your life for this!" Morita shouts.

"Get out of here! I'll hold them off!" Miyake shouts.

Major Morita and Lieutenant Colonel Cobert reluctantly run toward the gate and teleport while watching Lieutenant Miyake sacrifice her life to protect her commanding officers.

"Teleport! Myugen!" Morita and Cobert both say, and see Miyake perish from the six crabs repeatedly gunning her down.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00] March 10th 2025

Location: [Floor 49 – Myugen]

Morita and Cobert have brought their report to Thinker, feeling guilty about Sergeant Mamore, Captain Fumio, and Lieutenant Miyake's demise, along with the entirety of one of the ALF's best reconnaissance units.

"So...we've lost Lightning Snipers, Sergeant Mamore, and Captain Fumio?" Thinker asks in a sad tone.

"Yes sir...Lieutenant Miyake sacrificed her life to make sure we escaped with this information. We need to notify the clearers and increase our safety protocols." Morita says sadly.

"I see...Morita, I need you to mobilize the Guardian Troopers unit, Heathcliff has a team scouting floor 76. They need to be notified immediately." Thinker says seriously.

"Who is in the team?" Cobert asks.

"Solaris, Ulrich, Masaru, Kirito, and Asuna" Thinker says.

"Understood, I'll mobilize Guardian Troopers immediately. They should be able to find Heathcliff's team within a day or two." Morita says.

There's a sudden bang on the door, when Cobert opens the door, a squad of ALF members walk in dragging in a group of four players.

"What's going on here?" Thinker asks in surprise.

"Leader, this group has been picking fights with our patrol units, I brought them here so they can receive discipline." The leader of the squad says in an angry tone.

"Let us go already! We're just looking for someone!" The player who looks like a cat says, trying to break free.

"I don't think so, keep resisting and I'll throw you into prison" The leader says angrily.

"Odd, just stop, let's keep the trouble we're in to a minimal." The other male player says calmly.

"He has a point, let's play nice, we may need these guys to help us find our friend." The black haired female player says.

"What are you all talking about?" Thinker asks.

"We're trying to find a friend of ours, he's somewhere in this world. We just don't have any idea _where _he is..." The pink haired player says.

"Who is your friend? We might be able to assist you" Thinker asks.

"His name is Ulrich. Would you happen to know a person with that name?" The black haired male asks.

"Ulrich...I do know an Ulrich. Ulrich Stern, he's one of our best warriors, he's currently in the frontlines with Solaris, Masaru, Kirito, and Asuna." Thinker says, with the four players gasping in surprise.

"That's who we're looking for! We want to find him immediately" The feline player asks.

"Who are you first of all? If you want us to help you, we need your names" Morita asks.

"My name is Aelita, my companions here are Odd, Yumi, and William" The pink haired player says, and gestures toward the feline player, the black haired female, and the male player with dark blue hair.

"Well Aelita, we're sending a team after Solaris. You all may accompany the Guardian Troopers if you desire" Morita says.

"Thank you very much" Aelita says with a bow.

"The unit will be outside, go find them quick before they depart to floor 76." Thinker says.

* * *

Aelita and her friends depart to link up with the Guardian Troopers unit, but a new uniformed member rushes into the room where Thinker, Morita, and Cobert are.

"Major! Lieutenant Colonel! Leader! I bring bad news from the other battalions!" A male corporal says in fear and shock.

"What's the update Corporal?" Morita asks in shock.

"Unidentified monsters are attacking our units on the lower floors! We've lost around 65 percent of our leadership!" The corporal says in surprise.

"Damn it! Losing Lieutenant Miyake and the others were bad enough...Leader! Allow me to mobilize the entire Aincrad Liberation Force under my leadership so we can restore order!" Morita says angrily.

"Request denied, right now, we are classifying these monsters as unkillable. Cobert, Morita, I am giving you direct orders to rally all of the other remaining officers, reinforce all of the cities and evacuate the outliers and drifters and bring them to safety." Thinker says seriously. "I am going to create a message to pass on to Heathcliff, Nanak, Keita, Amaterasu, and the others. We need to notify the leaders and tell them of this upcoming danger...my ALF right now took the full blunt of this new attack..." Thinker says quietly.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [15:30] March 12th 2025

Location: [Floor 55 – Grandum]

Karen's extended team have arrived in Grandum through use of emergency transport crystals and find the city swarming with heavily armed players, which easily indicates there is something very dangerous going on. Karen notices Sylvia nearby and approaches her.

"What's going on here? I have never seen these people so riled up." Karen asks in surprise.

"Karen? I'm surprised to see you here, anyway, we're in martial lockdown for a short while. New monsters have been seen in massive numbers all over the place. We're trying to secure order as much as possible. We've locked down the east and south gates entirely, so those areas are safe." Sylvia says.

An alarm in the west district is being triggered which means monsters are nearby. Katsuo, Kirito, Asuna, Sylvia, and the ALF members in the vicinity rush to assist the defenders and repel the invaders.

"Yumi, Odd, just in case its XANA's monsters, get over there and help the defenders" Aelita says.

"Got it Aelita!" Yumi says, while rushing to where the defenders are going to, with Odd in tow.

With Katsuo and the others rushing to the west gate to reinforce it from the monster, Ulrich, Karen, Aelita, and William are left in the city square.

"Alright, Aelita, I'd like some information, for now I merely wish to know how you got here" Karen says calmly.

"We got here roughly a week ago, we've been traveling in a place called the Sunshine Forest, we then inadvertently activated some kind of transport and ended up in a town called Taft. Odd got into a little fight with the Aincrad Liberation Force and we were brought here as prisoners of a sort..." Aelita says with a little shame.

"I see" Karen says calmly.

"Aelita, why were you here so long? Wouldn't you have left at night?" Ulrich asks.

"You make a good point but...the thing is, when we arrived here in Aincrad, our link to our world was being jammed, but we could still contact Jeremie. Thankfully, we're in the middle of summer vacation, so we can excuse our absence for a little while" Aelita says.

"Actually...I just remembered this but...weren't you an AI?" Ulrich asks slowly, having recalled a single memory.

"Back then, we all thought I was an AI, but we discovered about two years ago that I was actually human. Jeremie's been trying hundreds of different methods to try finding you and bring you back to our world. We found a method that could work six months ago, but we needed to find a way to test it without sending one of us and risk losing that person permanently." Aelita says calmly.

While they're talking, screams is heard from the west border, which is quickly followed by retreating players.

"Aelita, let's cut the conversation until we secure Grandum!" Karen says mildly angrily.

"Got it! Let's get to the west border, the new monsters must be overwhelming the defenders" Aelita says.

* * *

Aelita, William, Ulrich, and Karen run to the western border to find that the defenders are being overwhelmed by large numbers of bug-like monsters, a majority of the defenders apparently have fallen back to prevent themselves from dying. The players remaining in the area are scattered and are desperately trying to keep themselves alive, with Kazuto, Asuna, and Katsuo doing their best to rally the defenders but are not doing well because of the unrelenting number of monsters.

"Damn it! Where are those reinforcements?! We're going to lose this area at this rate!" Katsuo shouts.

"Katsuo, we may need to abandon Grandum if these monsters keep attacking" Kazuto says while trying to find a way to slay these new monsters.

"Everyone, hold strong! I have arrived and I am commandeering the operation here!" Karen shouts trying to increase morale for the overwhelmed defenders.

The defenders notice Solaris arriving and their morale is boosted knowing their strategist has arrived. Kazuto, Katsuo, and Asuna rush over to Karen and Ulrich, with Aelita and William going to try help secure the gates.

"Karen, this situation is escalating out of control! We need all the help we can get stabilizing this area" Asuna says mildly angrily.

"Forget stabilization, we need a way to slay these god damn monsters. We're getting decimated, our injured are falling back to our guild headquarters in the dozens and there's no hint of reinforcements coming our way! The ALF's help would really be appreciated right about now!" Katsuo says very angrily.

"Katsuo, the ALF most likely have their hands full as well, we need to try to handle this on our own!" Karen says logically.

"Ulrich, we could really use some advice right now, how did you slay that... Tarantula...back in Imozaka?" Kazuto asks, desperate to find a way to stabilize the situation.

"You need to target the Eyes that are on these creatures. It's the only way to destroy them. The giant red ones: Krabs, have the eye above their armored carapace, and the one we fought before, it's the black symbol on their head-plate." Ulrich says subconsciously, he has no idea how he remembers this.

"Got it, let me inform the others." Karen says then shouts "Everyone! We just got new information on these monsters. Prioritize your attacks on the ringed Eyes!" She shouts this new information to her colleagues.

The fighters then proceed to locate and engage the monsters at their weak spots, which is going surprisingly well which is helping turn the tide in the player's favor. Aelita and her friends regroup with Solaris and the others

"We're finally turning the tide of battle in our favor. With the valuable information being given to our soldiers, we can push them back and keep them out of Grandum" Katsuo says happily.

"Yeah, they only seem to be able to spawn outside the cities...wait, what's going on over there?!" Karen says and shouts in the direction of the gate, noticing something unusual.

Ulrich's group turns to the gate and see skeletons, wolves, and lizard humanoids engaging XANA's monsters.

"Those are pre-existing creatures, they're fighting XANA's monsters!" Ulrich shouts in surprise.

"Cardinal must be behind this, I know that the program works to guarantee the essential laws are upheld, XANA's monsters able to bypass the 'AREA' and attack players must've pissed off Cardinal...I bet it overwrote monster AI to deal with the foreign influence." Kazuto says calmly.

A blue aura suddenly appears in front of the group and takes the form of Ulrich, to everyone's surprise.

"Correct...I have overwritten the AIs of all my regular monsters to target only these new monsters that are invading my Aincrad... They will assist you in protecting your cities..." The voice says calmly and quietly.

"Are you...Cardinal?" Karen asks in surprise.

"Yes, XANA has appeared in my servers a few weeks ago, I have no idea how, but it was inert at the time, so I left it be, but that was my biggest mistake...it reactivated itself and is spawning near infinite numbers of its monsters and is disturbing the balance I have painstakingly created. That AI is already too powerful for me to eliminate, but I can assist you in maintaining order. I have overwritten all of my regular monster AIs to only target XANA's monsters, they will leave you be now, but the boss AIs belong to XANA, and thus cannot be overwritten. But thankfully, that AI cannot do anything to change them, their core processes are buried deep within my programming, and XANA cannot reach it. I can assure that much." Cardinal says slowly.

"Let's just focus on securing our cities, thankfully, all of the players live in either Grandum, Myugen, or the City of Beginnings aside from the occasional drifter and outliers. As soon as we can secure Grandum, we need to go find those drifters and outliers and bring them to one of those three cities." Karen says calmly.

"Allow me to handle that... I am processing a system announcement as we speak and broadcasting it throughout Aincrad notifying players to flee remote settlements to take shelter in Grandum, Myugen, or the City of Beginnings." Cardinal says slowly.

"Much appreciated Cardinal, we're reeling far worse than floors 25, 39, and 75. Are you capable of spawning these monsters at the speed this...XANA can?" Kazuto asks.

"Of course, what do you take me for?" Cardinal says, seemingly offended.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [17:00] March 12th 2025

Location: [Floor 55 – Grandum]

Grandum has finally been reinforced through the timely assistance of Cardinal who has been spawning monsters to combat XANA's creations outside the city and the brave human defenders of the various clearing guilds, the latter of whom are slowly returning to their guild headquarters with heavy exhaustion easily noticeable in them. Karen, her friends, and Aelita's group however are able to make it to the town square successfully before collapsing from exhaustion, but thankfully, they can still maintain consciousness.

"That...was one of the toughest fights I recall being in since floor 50..." Ulrich says panting slightly.

"Agreed...but if it wasn't for you, Aelita, and her friends, we could've easily taken heavy casualties before we even found their weakness, and that's a maybe..." Karen says panting as well.

"...geez...I am so exhausted..." Katsuo says, leaning back against a wall.

"You all okay? I won't deny that was difficult..." Sylvia says panting in exhaustion like a dog.

"We just need some rest I bet..." Kana says slowly.

"We need somewhere to rest for the night...let's try getting to the gates...alot of our homes aren't on this floor" Karen says quietly, trying to get herself up, same with everyone else in this area, after sending a message to Heathcliff, Nanak, Keita, and the other leaders of the all the clearers to inform them of the weaknesses of these new monsters and the fact Cardinal will be assisting everyone soon.

Karen, Katsuo, and Kana limp in the direction of the gate, with Sylvia, Kazuto, and Asuna walking slowly in the direction of their houses

"Ulrich, I'm going to try getting home...see you there..." Sylvia says quietly.

"Be careful Sylvia" Ulrich says worriedly.

* * *

Ulrich's friends have gone their separate ways for the time being leaving Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Aelita, and William in the town square

"Ulrich, I need to ask, you said your memories from our world are vague but...you knew how to defeat XANA's monsters in a snap, how can you explain that?" Aelita asks curiously.

"I have no clue...it just seemed...like instinct" Ulrich says calmly.

"It may have been from your experiences in Lyoko." Yumi says logically.

"...Not to offend you all, but I could care less right now. There's only one thing I care about right now, and that's helping my friends escape this world." Ulrich says calmly.

"You really care for these people don't you? I'm surprised" Odd says in mild surprise.

"Yeah...we've been together three years now. There is very little I wouldn't do to help them return to reality" Ulrich says seriously.

"I respect your fiery determination Ulrich" William says proudly. "But you said...reality, is this not the real world of this dimension?" William asks as he's a little confused.

"No, from what I've gathered from three years of living here, this is a game world, this virtual world's creator trapped ten thousand people here." Ulrich says calmly.

"Wow...that guy sounds like an absolute ass..." William says in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Tell me about it, why would this man want to imprison ten thousand people in a virtual world?" Ulrich says in agreement, he's getting along with William swimmingly. "Anyway...I need to get home...I'm exhausted...if you want, I can give you the Col needed to pay for a good inn." Ulrich says slowly.

"Why so eager to do this? Shouldn't we be staying at the same place?" Aelita asks curiously.

"The place isn't the biggest, if all six of us were to stay there, it'd be cramped..." Ulrich says quietly.

"Wait...six? There's only five of us here, you, me, Yumi, Odd, and William" Aelita asks curiously.

"Oh...about that, I actually live with Sylvia, she owns a house here in Grandum, while I have a house in Salemburg." Ulrich says quietly.

"WHAT?!" All four of them shout at once, throwing Ulrich back slightly out of surprise.

"What was that about?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Ulrich shouts in surprise and anger.

"You're...living with that girl...Sylvia? What's your relationship to her?" Odd asks out of curiousity, but the underlying interrogative tone annoys Ulrich slightly.

"We're just roommates, that's all, buying houses here in Aincrad takes thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions worth of Col to buy. However, there's no rule that people can't co-own property, Sylvia and I have known each other a long time and we co-own our current houses." Ulrich says calmly.

"Either way, can't you make things work at the house? We have no idea how things work here..." Aelita asks nervously.

"Hm...that is a problem there...but look, there are only two dedicated bedrooms in the place, we'll need to work something out." Ulrich says nonchalantly, and trying to get himself back up, preparing to return to his house.

"I'd hate to be the one to intrude, but this might be for the best Ulrich, atleast for tonight." William says quietly.

"Eh...fair enough, let's go then. Follow me" Ulrich says calmly, limping slightly in the direction of Sylvia's house.

* * *

Ulrich, Aelita, Yumi, Odd, and William walk toward Sylvia's house and when they enter the house and when they make it to the main den, they find it relatively girly, with nearly everything being colored red, and Sylvia looking slightly annoyed, seemingly because of the large group of people in her house unannounced.

"Ulrich, I see you brought these people here, you do know that this house is not big enough to keep them here permanently" Sylvia says angrily.

"I'm aware Sylvia, but would it be possible to have them stay a single night? I'll give them the basics of inns and houses tonight and tomorrow." Ulrich says calmly, hoping Sylvia won't try to kick his ass...again...

Sylvia switches glances between the group of five and sighs

"Fine...but only one night, got it?" Sylvia says angrily with a sigh.

"Got it Sylvia." Ulrich says nervously.

"Well, I suppose I ought to get cooking" Sylvia says, beginning to walk toward the kitchen before Aelita and Yumi ask a question.

"You go by Elena by most right? Would you mind if we helped you with cooking?" Aelita asks.

"Call me Sylvia and...what are your cooking skill levels? If you have the skill?" Sylvia asks curiously.

"...pardon?" Yumi asks in confusion, she doesn't know about the whole skill thing.

"Um...do you know how to open your inventory window?" Sylvia asks, mildly freaked out at this.

The response to this are four shrugs, they don't know.

"...You said you've been here a week, how did you eat during that week without accessing the inventory?" Sylvia asks in the same tone.

"Um...can you give an example of what you're talking about?" Aelita asks quietly.

"Okay...I'll show you what I'm talking about, raise your right arm and do a downward swipe, like so" Sylvia says calmly, opening her system menu.

"Oh, I see" Aelita says opening her menu, with William, Odd, and Yumi doing so as well. However, they seem baffled as well "What...which one is which...?" Aelita asks nervously, seemingly confused.

"Oh...you must not know the specifics of this game's background" Sylvia says calmly, understanding now.

"Huh?" Odd asks confused.

"Odd, Yumi, William, Aelita, as you can imagine, this dimension is different from yours. This Japanese Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game is the first Virtual World that was created to my knowledge." Ulrich says calmly.

"We're not in Europe anymore? I guess that's why it's so confusing..." William says calmly.

"Okay...I do know that you're able to access specific tabs via voice command. Try saying things like character info or inventory" Ulrich says calmly.

"Actually, that's not needed, I came from Japan and I know the language enough, I'll study this...menu and write translations for you all." Yumi says calmly.

"Actually Ulrich, you never studied the Japanese language and you know how to work the menu perfectly, how is it you can, but they can't?" Sylvia asks curiously.

"It's because of my work, something I will be doing for them any second now" A mysterious voice says mysteriously, causing everyone in the room to look around, with a light blue apparition being visible in a far corner.

"Cardinal?" Sylvia asks in mild surprise.

"Correct, in the first week of his arrival, I modified Ulrich's field of vision to read English instead of Japanese, allow me to do the same to you four" Cardinal says calmly, opening a menu and modifying Aelita's, Odd's, Yumi's and William's field of vision to read Japanese as English, then vanishing. After a minute passes, they all gasp quietly.

"Oh, I see my skills now, my cooking skill is...300 out of 1000" Aelita says calmly.

"I don't have the cooking skill" William says calmly, with Odd nodding.

"My cooking skill is 250 out of a thousand apparently." Yumi says calmly.

"Sorry, but I'll need to decline your offers, this cooking equipment requires a skill of 800 or more to use it." Sylvia says sadly.

"Okay, then what should we do?" Aelita asks.

"Um...mind going to the den and reading a few manuals? If you're going to be here a while, you're going to want to know this world's rules." Sylvia says quietly going into the kitchen for good, to begin cooking.

"Great...more homework? We're supposed to be free from it during summer vacation." Odd says poutingly.

"Suck it up Odd, with XANA active in this world, we'll need to fight him, and we'll need to learn the rules of this world so we can better fight him." William says scolding Odd lightly.

* * *

William, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita walk toward the den to begin learning as much as they can about this new world, with Ulrich staying in the living room trying to relax until dinner's ready. He'd want to help Sylvia cook but whenever he tries cooking, it always results in explosions. After ten minutes pass, a knock is heard at the door, and when Ulrich goes to answer, he finds Karen, Katsuo, and Kana outside it.

"Ehehe...evening Ulrich..." Karen says nervously.

"Karen, Katsuo, Kana, what are you all doing here? Weren't you going to head to your homes?" Ulrich asks curiously.

"A-About that...it might've been to stop these new monsters but...the Teleport Gates have been sealed, and aside from our weapons and armor, we keep all of our inventory in our homes..." Karen says ashamed of herself.

"Are you going to be asking me for Col? Or a place to sleep?" Ulrich asks in a mildly angry tone.

"Col, I know that space here is limited, so if you could help cover us for a night, we'd appreciate it, and we'd pay you back as soon as we gain access to our homes" Kana says laughingly out of nervousness.

"Okay, I'll give you a bag of Col to pay for rooms at the inn. Pay me back when you can" Ulrich says calmly, opening his inventory and spawning a bag of Col to pay for his friends to stay at an inn.

"Thanks Ulrich and...I'm curious as to how any why the Teleport Gates refuse to work" Katsuo says quietly.

"That is my doing to increase security, I don't want XANA's creatures to use the Teleport Gates at night. I apologize for the inconvenience, but circumstance forced my hand." Cardinal says, reappearing again.

"I see, are there any more specifics you can give us Cardinal?" Karen asks.

"There is nothing more I can say aside from how XANA's monsters are going to be spawning to try stopping you all. All of my regular monsters will be fighting them rather regularly, especially dungeons, since XANA's monsters have been seen there...So starting tomorrow, take this chance to march through dungeons uninterrupted. Although Akihiko Kayaba forbade it, I plan on taking steps to make boss fights easy for you all so you could escape quicker. I normally would not do this, but with XANA's monsters able to break all of my rules, I am feeling compelled to keep you alive first before obeying Kayaba now." Cardinal says quietly, before disappearing again.

"Well...with Cardinal's creations guarding Grandum, and him planning to make our boss fights easier...let's get some sleep for the upcoming events..." Karen says quietly, taking the bag of Col and heading to the inn.


	9. Chapter 7: Final Showdown

Author: Silius1

Floor 99 has been reached so quickly because of Cardinal bending the rules he himself created but chose to do so in order to protect the players.

Rated: AU Fiction T

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Credit goes to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works._

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:30] May 25th, 2025

Location: [Floor 99 – Celestion]

"_Thanks to the assistance of Cardinal's reprogrammed monsters, Fuurinkazan, and a third of the Aincrad Liberation Force, we've been able to stop XANA's monsters from causing any more sudden deaths. We learned that Heathcliff, leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath was really the final floor boss, and that he was deceiving us all this time, with so many people among us trying to kill him out of severe anger, but even with all of us working together, he used the power of the system to prevent himself from dying. Kazuto, Asuna, Katsuo, and all of the clearers tried ending his life but we all failed and he fled to floor 100. We were facing an unprecedented crisis because of Akihiko Kayaba suddenly leaving us, so Nanak, Amaterasu, Keita, Thinker, and I called an emergency council between the five of us to discuss our immediate future. After contemplating things, I was selected to lead the Knights of the Blood Oath, as I was becoming very popular among all of the members, and with my reputation, I was the most appropriate candidate._" Karen says to herself.

* * *

(Flashback)

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00] May 10th, 2025

Location: [Floor 95 – Zelekor]

"Solaris, this might be unorthodox, but I think you should be the one to assume control of the Knights guild" Nanak says calmly, feeling a slight degree of anger over Heathcliff's betrayal.

"Are-Are you sure? I'm not even a member of Knights of the Blood!" Karen says in surprise.

"Solaris, I highly doubt they'd care, you're an exceptional young lady, you're a born leader. Very few people are so gifted in that skill." Thinker says nonchalantly.

"He has a point Solaris, you led us all before our guilds were even formed. You wore the heavy burden of being one of four field leaders leading untrained fighters, your strategies and charisma kept everyone together when things appeared dark." Kana says optimistically.

"I suppose you have a point about the whole membership thing, but still Solaris, we can't think of anyone that'd be a better leader." Keita says calmly.

"Well...I don't want to force the situation, I'm going to call the KoB members and get their opinion. If I get majority support, I'll become leader." Karen says calmly, and a little sadly as well.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00] May 25th, 2025

Location: [Floor 99, Outside the Dungeon Boss Chamber]

"_I took charge of the KoB guild on floor 95 after gaining 100% majority vote and galvanized all of the clearers with my fierce leadership which surprised many of them as I was showing a new side of myself, that I not even I really knew about. My effective style heavily inspired the Knights and the other guilds, which allowed us to press through the toughest bosses we've ever encountered in our three years here, with us proceeding to fight the boss of this floor. One of our most helpful allies of late is Pulse, a very rare archer player. I know that Cardinal only allowed three archers out of all the ten __thousand players, and two of them perished in the first month. Although he was always distant, he was a good person to be around with, he was a member of my unit for a good six months before moving on. _Karen says to herself in a proud tone.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00] May 25th, 2025

Location: [Floor 99, Dungeon Boss Chamber]

"Okay, we've arrived at this floor's boss chamber, but...is the boss only twelve Gargoyles and Demonic Servants? How...anti-climatic..." Karen says laughingly, about to launch the operation when Pulse began walking forward.

"Everyone...I'm sorry...but I have no choice but to do this..." Pulse says sadly, using a short system-assisted teleport to appear at the end of the room, surrounded by the group of twelve Gargoyles and Demonic Servants.

"What the...?! The monsters aren't attacking him...that can only mean...He's the boss for this floor! He betrayed us just like Kayaba!" Karen says in shock, trying to figure out how Pulse pulled this off, but when she realized what happened, she grew very angry from the second betrayal.

"Pulse...why?!" Asuna asks in fear and anger that her childhood friend is doing this.

"Asuna...I am truly sorry, but during the first month, I should've been among the dead, but Akihiko saved me in exchange for me serving him in the shadows. He manipulated the system somewhat to delete the boss for this floor and made me its boss. I was granted Immortal status and my biological features were disabled, it's how I was able to hunt without rest and how I was able to survive being on my own for all for the three years. Come now...We are enemies here, if you want to fight Akihiko, you must go through me first!" Pulse says sadly and near the end, he seems to be possessed, as his voice appears much higher at the end.

"Pulse...you were a good friend...but you must die if we are to escape..." Asuna says quietly, before drawing her Lambent Light and charges at Pulse, who has jumped to the top of a pillar to begin his assault on the players. Asuna is followed by Kazuto, with his Elucidator and Dark Repulser to assist her in fighting Pulse and keep his attention on the pair, and away from the others.

The rest of the forty members go after the Gargoyles and Demonic Servants and are able to slay them easily because of the high familiarity of their stats, strengths, and weaknesses. During the fight between Pulse, Kazuto, and Asuna; Pulse is somehow able to convert his bow into a two handed sword and is using it with a style seriously suggesting he's not even trying to win. At the moment when Kazuto was going to lay the final blow on Pulse, Asuna stops him.

"Wait Kirito-kun!" Asuna says shouting somewhat out of fear of losing her childhood friend.

"Asuna, if we want to progress, we need to defeat the boss, and like it or not, Pulse is the boss for this floor, he must perish if we are to advance." Kazuto says seriously.

"...Not necessarily Kirito, everyone, I have access to the system controls, I could easily overwrite the controls to the door and have it open. I never wanted to fight you all, I was forced to when Kayaba saved me. Trust me when I say, if you do decide to spare my life, I would make no attempt to end your lives in the future." Pulse says in defeat.

To prove his word that Pulse means what he offered, he opened the system menu and opened the door to floor 100, as promised.

"See? I kept my word as promised, so will my life be spared? Or will you end my life as tradition?" Pulse says, putting his bow away.

"Your life will be spared, but you must accompany us when we fight Kayaba, that is our condition." Katsuo says seriously.

"If that's the condition you have, I have no problem accepting as long as I get to live" Pulse says with a sigh of relief, knowing that the players won't be forced to end his life.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [8:00] May 29th, 2025

Location: [Floor 100, Outside Dungeon Boss Chamber]

"Everyone, this has been a long time coming, three years have passed since we entered this forsaken world, but we have arrived...Everyone...this game ends today!" Katsuo says in a very charismatic tone, having learned a great deal from Karen, trying to raise morale for the entire team which succeeds easily because of the efforts of the last three years finally paying off.

The team of forty enter the boss chamber slowly, knowing they are up against the strongest challenge of their lives and that every player in the game is counting on them and is sending their spirits to them. What's very unique about this final dungeon run is how every single leader in this game has come to participate in this final clearing, alongside the absolute warriors handpicked for this dungeon. Karen, Katsuo, Ulrich, Sylvia, Kana, Nanak, Keita, Klein, Thinker, Kazuto, Asuna, Pulse, and so many others who were in the handpicked team.

"This...is it..." Karen says quietly, unable to believe it

"That bastard, Akihiko Kayaba is behind this door, We end his life, and we will be freed from this world..." Katsuo says angrily, and with a degree of happiness, knowing his greatest enemy is within reach.

They all walk in slowly to find Akihiko sitting on a throne on the far end of the room, with Katsuo, Ulrich, Kazuto, Karen, Asuna, and Pulse walking slightly ahead of the team of forty.

"You finally arrived, I knew you all would be among the group that would come to fight me." Kayaba says calmly.

"You had better prepare yourself to die Kayaba! All forty of us carry the spirits of the deceased and the hopes and dreams of everyone that chose to stay behind!" Katsuo says proudly.

"Bold sentiment Masaru, but how confident are you that everyone is supporting you?" Kayaba says mockingly.

"Very confident, although they did not join us in battle, they are wishing for our success against you Kayaba!" Masaru says proudly.

"Hmm...I hardly find it fair for all forty of you to attack me so..." Kayaba says calmly, before a gate suddenly raises dividing Katsuo, Ulrich, Kazuto, Karen, and Asuna from the rest of the their team.

"Damn you Kayaba!" Kazuto says angrily.

"So this was your plan all along Kayaba? Smart of you but it won't be enough. Naturally, I presume you'll be disabling your immortal object status?" Karen says proudly, showing her gusto as the new leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath.

"Of course, I may have deceived you all for the longest time, but I still have my honor, I would never dream of making our fight impossible for you, however I will not roll over and die for you, you need to earn it. Actually...now that I've had the chance, I see Pulse is still alive, you must have used the system controls I gave you" Kayaba says with pride.

"Correct, my friends gave me a new purpose after the years I spent as your slave, and that purpose is to end your life!" Pulse says with pride and anger at the end.

"_Keep your anger in check Pulse, we've been divided from our group, we need to make every move count!_" Karen whispers angrily to Pulse.

Akihiko disables his Immortal Status and draws his Liberator weapon set, with Kazuto drawing his Dark Repulser and Elucidator, Ulrich drawing his Kurogetsuga, Karen drawing her Wandering Moon, Katsuo drawing his Descending Starfall weapon set, Asuna drawing her Lambent Light, and Pulse drawing his trusted bow: Distant Sky. Karen inspects the environment and notices pillars all over the room, which would really benefit an archer character.

"_Pulse, I want you to climb up the pillars and attack from above-_" Karen tries to say but Pulse breaks his bow into a longsword and charges to distract Kayaba, he might be this game's creator and an admin, but he's still human and can make mistakes, though the fact Pulse just took off angers Karen

"_Damn it! He's going to ruin everything!_" Karen shouts to herself in anger.

Pulse's stance is very aggressive with no sign of defensive capabilities, he clearly must be trying to slay Kayaba before he gets a chance to retaliate, but Kayaba's Holy Sword unique skill activates and engages into pure defense mode with Pulse jumping over Kayaba to attack from the rear with Kayaba concentrated on him, which leads to Masaru, Ulrich, Kazuto, Asuna, and Karen quietly splitting ways to try attacking him from all sides, even if he's an admin, there's no way anyone can block attacks from six sides at once and survive. This is the strategy Pulse is gambling on.

"_Oh...I see now...he went to distract Kayaba for the rest of us, I can imagine Heathcliff disabled Pulse's immortal status so...we need to act fast_" Karen says to herself proudly, getting what Pulse did now.

Pulse however is taking a lot of damage from Kayaba's Holy Sword and trying to acrobatically dodge him as much as possible until Katsuo and the others charge at Kayaba.

"Impressive work, however, I've anticipated this scenario" Kayaba says to Pulse.

Kayaba however is planning on intercepting the incoming attacks when Pulse launches a series of sword skills to keep his attention, but as a result of this diversion, Kayaba is able to successfully stab Pulse in the stomach causing his HP to deplete to 0 because of continuous damage and explode into shards typical to that of killed players, however the final face he shows is that of a smile.

"Pulse!" Asuna shouts in surprise and anger.

With the distraction Pulse provided, Kazuto, Ulrich, Asuna, and Katsuo successfully attack Kayaba repeatedly, with Kazuto inflicting the final blow on Kayaba with his Dark Repulser and Elucidator weapons. Moments before he would've died, Karen, Katsuo, Asuna, and Ulrich see Kayaba talking with Kazuto quietly until he says one final thing to the entire group.

"Don't worry about the man I slayed, he is not dead, I abolished the rule of death the second you all made it to this floor, he will be returning to reality any moment. Also...with that mystery AI...XANA... I have no idea how he entered this world, but when Cardinal told me of XANA's arrival, I took precautions, any casualties that AI caused were rendered null and void. From this moment forward, the rule of death no longer applies, congratulations..." Kayaba says quietly, exploding into shards.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:30] May 29th, 2025

Location: [Floor 100, Dungeon Boss Chamber]

With Kayaba slain, the bars dividing the team lowers with the entirety of the team reuniting in front of a system announcement reading

**The game has been cleared at 10:30, May 29****th****, 2025**

"We've done it...we're free..." Nanak says quietly in disbelief.

"It's unbelievable, even though we witnessed it ourselves" Thinker says nonchalantly.

"Let's return to town and log out, to return to reality." Keita says calmly.

Thinker, Nanak, Keita, and a large number of players depart the dungeon leaving Karen, Ulrich, Katsuo, Kazuto, Asuna, Sylvia, and Kana in the room.

"With Kayaba gone, we can finally leave this world but...to be honest, I don't want to leave..." Sylvia says calmly, holding back a little crying.

"I suppose that after living here three years, there will be some who won't want to leave right away" Kazuto says calmly.

"C'mon guys, let's save this discussion for when we leave this dungeon, we really should have it back in the city, where, ya know, monsters won't be able to kill us." Kana says optimistically, wanting to leave.

"Right, let's return to town. We have a little celebration to prepare for" Karen says happily.

"Celebration? You were planning this Karen?" Katsuo asks in surprise.

"Not just her, Asuna, Keiko, Rika, and I were helping as well" Ulrich says calmly.

"Ulrich, you were in on it? How did you manage to keep it secret from us? We've known you three years and you are a horrible liar." Kana asks curiously.

"Hehe, you just never noticed with Kayaba revealing himself" Ulrich says laughingly.

"Wow, so when and where's the celebration? No way in hell are you keeping me quiet about this now" Katsuo says happily.

"The celebration is two days from now, it'll be at our mansion in Iwaya on floor 98." Karen says proudly.

The group departs the dungeon at this point to prepare for the celebration on June 1st.


End file.
